


The Seven Strictures: On How to Worship the Outsider

by profoundbondbusiness



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Dishonored Big Bang, Gen, Ghost (Dishonored), Low Chaos (Dishonored), Non-Lethal (Dishonored)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 08:21:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11665272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/profoundbondbusiness/pseuds/profoundbondbusiness
Summary: When Duke Luca Abele came to Dunwall on the 15 year anniversary of Jessamine’s death, he hadn’t expected to meet Delilah Copperspoon, a witch claiming to be Jessamine’s half-sister. He certainly hadn’t expected to lose everything like he had 15 years before, and the last place Corvo expected to end up was in Karnaca, the capital of Serkonos and the place where he grew up. When he first arrived, his goal had been to take down Delilah’s power base and rescue Emily. However, it seemed his old home had much more in store for him as he was forced to confront his demons around every corner. And at the end of it all, he would have to make a choice. Would he forsake the Outsider and choose the Abbey? Or would he continue down this dark dangerous path he found himself on 15 years before?





	1. The Third Stricture

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: I meant to do this earlier, but I want to give a shout out to all the amazing people who worked with me to make this story possible. I also have to give a shout out to the artists who made some wonderful work for this story. They are hobbitsaarebas and saltysalmonella, both found on Tumblr. If you want to see the work they made you can go [here](http://metalarmedhobbit.tumblr.com/post/163643903687/the-seven-strictures-on-how-to-worship-the), for hobbitsaarebas' work, and [here](http://saltysalmonella.tumblr.com/post/163649196860), for saltysalmonella's work.

**Chapter 1: The Third Stricture**

**Restless Hands**

When Corvo awoke to feeling like he had been plunged into ice cold water, he was confused and disoriented. Reaching for his sword, he looked around the room wildly, trying to figure out what had happened. It wasn't until he failed to open the door that he remembered why this situation felt so familiar. This biting cold was something he hadn't experienced in 15 years; all because of the peace that Dunwall had achieved months after the death of Jessamine Kaldwin. _‘Though it apparently came at a price'_ , Corvo thought bitterly, trying not to remember Emily, stuck in stone, as he turned to face the back wall of the Dreadful Wale.

Just as he thought, the wall was no longer there and instead his room opened up into the void. It was just as he remembered from his last trip; all dark, lifeless sky and grey marble stone. Though, as he cautiously moved from the ship and across the flat, grey stone, he wondered if the void looked different depending on where the person was in the real world. Instead of the floating platforms from last time, Corvo saw the gray stone change into black marble stretching out in front of him. But he didn’t focus on that for long and instead decided to find the Outsider, knowing he couldn’t be far. Once he reached a certain spot, the Outsider appeared without a sound. 

It ended up being a surreal moment for Corvo, to stand before this immortal being knowing that he had definitely aged in the past 15 years and the Outsider still looked like a young adult; in physical appearance only. It wasn't until the Outsider opened his mouth that one realized he was much older than he looked. He had this way of speaking that said he had seen the worst parts of humanity and had found it wanting. But Corvo had realized long ago that the Outsider never took sides in any conflict he seemed to be a part of. Though this might be because the Outsider had many people seeking his favor, but he only sought out those that might provide him with some amusement. 

“Corvo old friend, do I even have to say it. You’ve lost yourself another Empress.”

Every word out of the Outsider’s mouth caused shame, and then white, hot anger to course through Corvo’s body. He didn't need to be reminded of the fact that he had failed Emily, just like he had failed Jessamine. Corvo barely listened as the Outsider discussed Delilah and made comments about how Daud would have been useful if he were still around. That was a thought though. He could just imagine the scene. Him as the Royal Protector, sitting down and asking for advice from the assassin who killed the previous Empress. It would cause quite the scandal, especially since the Outsider seemed to be hinting at the fact that Daud knew Delilah personally. It didn't matter though, since Daud was gone, and even if he were around, Corvo would never be able to work with the man. No, instead he would have to deal with this on his own, with the occasional cryptic comment from the Outsider.

What really threw Corvo off during this encounter was when the Outsider gave him a choice as to whether or not he wanted to receive his mark again. It was surprising, since he had no say in the matter at all last time. For one brief moment, Corvo entertained the thought of just refusing it. Even though it was helpful last time, he hated the fact that what he wanted hadn't been taken into account. On top of that, having the mark felt wrong somehow. Oh, he was by no means a religious person, though he certainly hadn't believed in the Outsider personally. Having the Outsider’s mark made him feel like he had an unfair advantage over his opponents. This time though, refusing wasn't an option, not when Delilah seemed to have some magic of her own. Ultimately, the benefits that came with having the mark would far outweigh any discomfort he might feel.

"I'll take the mark," Corvo said, staring directly into the Outsider's eyes.

Once again, he felt a searing pain as the mark was burned into his skin. It flashed first the red-yellow of fire, and then a bright blue before it turned black once more. Corvo clenched his hand into a fist to work through the pain that had appeared with the mark.. While Corvo did that, the Outsider disappeared, leaving him to hunt him down somewhere in the void. Just like last time, Corvo assumed that he would find a rune at the very end, and along the way he would see some silhouettes of different people, all ones involved in this intricate plot. Though Corvo hoped he would find that mechanical heart again, the one that spoke to him with Jessamine’s voice, even though it left him feeling conflicted. On the one hand, Corvo wanted to have that heart with him always, so he could hear her voice, even if he could never respond. At the same time, he hated even being near the thing. He knew it wasn't actually Jessamine, and the fact that he could use it to hear people's secrets unnerved him.

It left him in an odd situation, one he didn’t really know how to handle, even after all of these years. Bearing the Outsider's mark, using the magic it gave him access to, finding these runes, and brandishing this heart made him the bane of the Overseer's. For the second time in his life, he was using power that could very well get him killed if anyone from the Abbey found out. The first time he used this power 15 years ago, he felt an adrenaline rush, but also thought he might be sick. Before that moment, when he was lifted into the air by a masked assassin, Corvo never really believed that there were people out there that could use magic. Then not only was he proven wrong, but he had had it thrust upon him as well. Oh he was sure he could have ignored it all. Fought his way to each of his targets with nothing but his sword, pistol, crossbow, and any other man-made items he decided to pick up along the way.

Except Corvo knew he was lying to himself, because there was no way he could ignore this; not really. Not when the Outsider ensured he couldn't (because he was sure the layout of the void was controlled by the Outsider). And, even though he would never admit it out loud, he had become addicted to the power. Using Blink within the void, and knowing how easily he could move around with it made him think about how accessible Dunwall would be with that power. Then, the moment he picked up that rune, and found out it would unlock more powers he had access to because of the mark, he knew he was truly lost. There would be no going back, especially with the ability Dark Vision, since it gave him the ability to track his enemies through walls.

It was a dangerous thing, to become so enamored with the supernatural powers he gained due to this strange connection with the Outsider. While he knew Daud had carried the Outsider’s mark, and seemed fine afterwards, he remembered seeing plenty of people who’d gotten lost in the allure of the Outsider. All he had to do was not to rely too heavily on the power it gave him, but Corvo wondered how long that would last. In the past 15 years he hadn’t used that power once, and he thought he had been fine. Even after his mark had been removed, he didn’t think much on it, until he reentered the void and it felt like something he hadn’t even known was missing had been returned. Something that went much deeper than his ability to feel the power of the mark. But he refused to dwell on that and instead continued moving forward, until he found himself standing before a cliff that he couldn’t climb on his own. _‘Maybe that’s how he does it.’_ Corvo mused, drawing the power forth until he saw the cliff edge light up blue. _‘He forces people into situations where they have to use this power, so it becomes harder to resist.’_ And, just like the last time he traveled through the void so extensively, Corvo was forced to use Blink until he eventually reached the shrine at the end, where he found the mechanical heart from his last revenge trip. As he picked it up, he felt it beating in his hand, pulsating with a strange warmth. That was normal. What wasn’t was the faint, ghostly outline of Jessamine floating above the shrine.

It felt like for one brief moment his own heart had stopped. There she was, looking exactly as she did before her death. Talking to him in that soft tone she’d reserved just for him, but her eyes. They lacked her warmth for they were as dark as the sky that surrounded them. Corvo didn’t pay attention to that for long because in that moment everything he’d ever felt for her, and all the grief he’d buried, had come rushing back. He could feel the blood pounding in his ears as he struggled to pay attention to what she was saying. There were so many things he wanted to say, but instead he swallowed them down. This was neither the time, the place, or even the right person. He had to remember that.

“Jessamine,” Corvo whispered, struggling to keep the emotion from his voice, “if all I can hear are the last echoes of your voice, that’s enough.” 

And just like that Corvo felt tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. _‘It isn’t her. It isn’t her,’_ he thought over and over, even as her own voice filled with more emotion. 

“If only I could reach across this great expanse and take you into my arms. But instead I have this to offer. My gift....and my curse. Summon me to your hand, and I will guide you when I can.” And with that solemn advice, Jessamine was gone. Melted away into the darkness of the void and leaving Corvo with nothing but his memories and that cursed heart, beating softly in his hand. Gripping the heart tightly, if only just to hear Jessamine’s voice, he set off to find the other shrine. As he moved along the mostly straightforward path, he passed more of the statues that littered the void, giving him a visual representation of who he would encounter throughout his journey. Sat on a copy of Emily’s throne was Delilah, surrounded by men and women he didn’t recognize, but he cared more about her. Delilah claimed to be Jessamine’s sister but Corvo wasn’t sure if he could really believe that, because Jessamine never said anything about having a sister, let alone a half sister. And while Corvo wanted to say she was lying, there was no way he could disprove her claim. Deciding not to think on things he couldn’t change, he skirted around the statues and kept moving forward.

Through a combination of walking and Blink, Corvo eventually reached the second shrine. He knew he’d reached it long before he saw it though, because the mechanical heart in his hand had started pumping wildly. Though he’d know if he were close to a rune, or even a bone charm, even without it because they seemed to resonate with the mark he bore on his hand. Whenever he got within a certain range of them, he could hear a buzzing or humming sound that got louder as he got closer. It reminded him of the fact that he was constantly connected to the void, because how else could he have a reaction to these items otherwise. Though he hadn’t realized how deep that connection had gone until he’d lost the mark and then got it back from the Outsider. As he had traveled through the streets of Dunwall, going from the tower to the docks to find Megan Foster’s ship, there were several moments where he’d found himself searching for that power that had flowed through his body once before. It was hard to put it into words, but whenever he drew upon that power, it always felt like ice and fire flowing through his veins. And Corvo would be the first to admit, after the fact, that he had gotten addicted to the rush he felt each time he used those supernatural abilities.

Even when he wasn’t using it, Corvo could constantly feel it beneath his skin; moving as if it were alive. When Delilah took the mark, it felt like something had been ripped away from his body. It wasn’t until Corvo received the mark from the Outsider once again, that he realized that the power hadn’t been taken from him, it was more like the channel in which the power flowed through had been closed off. It was a disconcerting feeling, and, when he looked at the situation logically, he had two different opinions concerning this connection he had with the Outsider and the void. Corvo knew that if he had refused the mark, even though he might feel uncomfortable, the discomfort would eventually fade with time and it would become something that he managed, just like the pain from Jessamine’s death. At the same time though, Corvo knew, if he wanted a shot at really taking Delilah down, he needed the power that came with the mark. However, excusing it away like that didn’t really help, because ultimately, he knew this time, he might become too dependent upon it. Last time, it took him months before he stopped trying to use those abilities, especially in situations where he was surrounded by Overseers and would not be able to explain away what he did. And Corvo knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he would rely upon the mark just as much as he did last time. Why wouldn’t he, when it allowed him to sneak past his enemies and enter places unseen? 

_‘Of course, none of that will help if I don’t even pay attention to my surroundings,’_ Corvo thought as he realized he’d been standing in front of the shrine for a few minutes, doing nothing but staring at the rune. Shaking away those thoughts, he removed the rune from the shrine. The moment he grabbed it, he felt icey-fire rush through his body, signifying the fact that he could now unlock another one of his abilities. The only way he could really describe the process was there being a dam holding back that power. When he found a rune, it allowed water to come out of the dam and flow into a lake and then down a very specific river. Unlocking a specific ability gave him a slow moving flow with not a lot of water. However, the more runes he gathered, the stronger the flow of the river. Honestly speaking, Corvo knew this comparison didn’t make much sense, but it was the first thing that he had thought of when the Outsider told him about the importance of the runes the first time. And, just like last time, he used his first rune to unlock Dark Vision. That, along with Blink, were the power’s he had relied on the most last time. 

It was with the unlocking of his next ability that Corvo found himself back upon the Dreadful Wale. He took a few moments to observe the room in the light of day, and to give his body time to adjust to the warmth of the room. Returning from the void was always an experience, because it was so far removed from the human world, despite the fact that each trip was always littered with people and objects he would in someway encounter during his journey. He wasn’t sure what would happen exactly, but Corvo had a feeling this would be different from his last revenge quest. Not only would he be spending most of his time at home, but he had a feeling he would be confronting issues he had managed to avoid last time. Issues pertaining not only to his connection to the Outsider, but ones of a more… religious nature as well.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

“Hypocrites,” Corvo murmured as he dumped the second Overseer in front of the Outsider’s shrine, laying him up like an offering. If there was one thing that was guaranteed to make him angry it was people who contradicted their words with their actions. And currently the Overseer’s were at the top of his list. Before Jessamine’s death and before his association with the Outsider, Corvo hadn’t spent a single moment thinking about the Abbey of the Everyman and the people who were in positions of power within the religion. But after High Overseer Thaddeus Campbell got involved with Spymaster Hiram Burrows and his scheme to gain power, he’d been forced to take them more seriously than he had previously. Corvo had really just dismissed them before, because while many people found comfort in the strictures, he himself wasn’t a religious person and so hadn’t cared for the organization. Then he became the Lord Protector to Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, and he found his path crossing frequently with the Overseers. 

Initially Corvo, foolishly, assumed that the members of the Abbey would be decent people. They were members of a religious order, who believed that through the strictures they would be able to save the people of Gristol and beyond. He quickly learned that being a member of a religious order did not keep someone from being a terrible person. In fact, the title of Overseer acted as a shield for everyone who was a part of the Abbey of the Everyman. Over the years in which he worked for both Jessamine, and Emily, Corvo had lost count of the number of times in which someone came forward with a complaint about the Overseer’s abusing their power. Jessamine, while she was alive, refused to believe that this was going on, especially when the complaints were made about Thaddeus Campbell. Jessamine, bless her soul, had been a very kind, trusting person and liked to see the good in everyone. There were times where Corvo almost thought this was false, and that Jessamine knew that many of her trusted advisors were actually participating in some shady deals, but he could never prove it because she never acted on it. Instead, for whatever reason, Jessamine trusted them to be on her side and to tell her the truth. It was this faith in other people that eventually led to her downfall.

Of course, there were many who might argue, upon knowing the real story between Emily and Delilah, though no one except Delilah and Jessamine knew all the facts, that Emily’s downfall was also her trust in other people. Because, just like her mother before her, Emily left a lot of matters dealing with the kingdom up to the people around her. Corvo did his best to steer her in the right direction, and always gave her his opinion when she asked, but ultimately he was not a political person and Emily lacked the necessary experience. She’d been forced to take the throne at a young age, due to her mother’s death and Corvo had to play a very delicate game during her first couple of years on the throne. He couldn’t alienate anyone by not allowing them to speak with Emily, but at the same time, he could not allow them to have too much influence over her because then it might cause problems. So even though Emily had received a lot of help from many different people, most of her problems did not stem from a too trusting nature, but from insecurity and doubt. 

From the moment Emily took the throne, people had immediately started comparing her to her mother. It didn’t matter that Jessamine hadn’t actually been a perfect person, or that many people had disliked her because of how long the rat plague lasted, everything Emily did was measured against her mother. In many cases, Emily was found wanting, as people loudly proclaimed that many of these problems hadn’t existed when Jessamine was still Empress, no matter that many of them stemmed from problems during Jessamine’s reign. From the problems with the grand guard, to the Flooded District and the shortage of whale oil, everyone had something to complain about. Emily, for the most part, did her best to address all of these issues, but refused to deal with anything concerning the Overseers. Corvo was never sure if it was because of the role the High Overseer played in her mother’s death, but Emily ignored the entire organization, only interacting with them when necessary. And so, corruption ran rampant throughout the ranks of the Overseers, and of course it seemed to be the same here in Karnaca. 

Despite the fact that they would spend hours preaching to any who would listen that the Outsider would lead people astray, they forgot that they were human themselves. So they themselves, just like anyone else, can be tempted by the power of the Outsider, and while Corvo knew that there were probably some who could resist the temptation, not everyone was able to. Though apparently, if one were an Overseer, all they had to do was cover up their indiscretion, and then they would be able to go back to living their normal life. Which pissed Corvo off to no end, because any regular citizen caught in that position would face the wrath of the Abbey, and, depending on how serious their crime was, might even face death. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really much he could do about that, unless he dismantled the Abbey. That wouldn’t be possible though, because it was too ingrained into their society. So even though he didn’t think anything would happen because of this, Corvo felt a perverse sense of pleasure as he removed the runes from the shrine and the void rushed into existence. Even as he focused on his conversation with the Outsider, he was highly aware of the fact that the two Overseers lay unconscious at the base of the shrine. His discussion with the Outsider was over in minutes, and as he exited the building through a nearby window, Corvo desperately tried not to think about the Overseers he had left behind as he made his way to their outpost.


	2. Chapter 2: The First Stricture

**Chapter 2: The First Stricture**

****

**Wandering Gaze**

“My mother was so devout. The strictures gave her comfort.” 

Corvo said this without thinking as he stared at the stone tablets bearing the seven strictures of the Abbey of the Everyman. In that moment, he cursed not only his inability to kill the guards that littered the streets of Karnaca; he also cursed Mindy Blanchard and her offer. If it weren’t for any of that, Corvo wouldn’t be sneaking through the Overseer’s Outpost, looking for some dead body. But he was, because Corvo wanted to avoid any confrontations with the guards if he could, and Mindy would be able to help him with it. So he traveled over to the Outpost, and didn't think anything of it, even after he entered the old, faded building, at least until he hit the second floor. 

His trip to Karnaca had been like a trip down memory lane, and entering that dark alcove with the Overseer had thrown him back to a past he had tried to ignore. For one brief moment, instead of being a 59 year old man seeking revenge for his daughter, he was a young child standing in the doorway to a small closet in his house. Instead of a man, kneeling and reciting the strictures, it was his mother. But by this point his memory was fading and all he could remember was an older woman, with dark hair wearing a faded blue dress, kneeling in front of candles. His mother was a devout follower of the strictures, and had constantly impressed upon her children the need to use them as guidelines for their lives. She had fully believed that the only way for them to live a happy life was to follow the strictures exactly, and anything the Abbey deemed heretical was not allowed in their home. As such, Corvo hadn’t known anything about the Outsider, the void, or even magic, at least not in the way that he knew of it now. Whenever his mother spoke of such things, she spoke of it with disgust, and condemned anyone who even said a positive word about the void. That, more than anything else, was the most controversial topic within his home, due to the fact that many people discussed the void as a place where everyone could go upon dying.

As far as Corvo could remember, his mother hadn’t said anything about there actually being a place people went to when they died. He thought that might have been because the Abbey had never said anything officially on the topic, but he couldn’t be sure. The point though, was that the Abbey had also never said anything positive about the void and the afterlife, and since it was so heavily associated with the Outsider, his mother deemed it an inappropriate topic of conversation. Which tended to cause problems with his father, who had been a bit of an amature scholar as well. He’d never read a book in his life, since he couldn’t read very well, but he listened to other people talk, and thus had heard plenty about what had been written on the void. This had caused plenty of arguments between his parents, when the both of them were still alive, because sometimes his father liked to spend the money he earned drinking with his buddies from work. It was how he ended up learning so much about the void, because people who’d had one too many to drink loved to ramble on to whoever was willing to listen. Then, his father would come home and repeat what he had heard, and then the fighting would start. The two had had completely different beliefs when it came to religion and the Abbey, but his mother had done her best to instill her belief in the strictures into her children. It had failed though, because neither he nor his sister had actually cared, and in fact, Corvo had scoffed at the idea of magic even being real. 

He knew for a fact that if both his mother, and his younger self could see him today, they would both be completely disgusted at his association with the Outsider. His mother’s reaction would be one of hate for the simple fact that he had entangled himself with everything she hated in life. His younger self, though, would hate the fact that he’d given into the delusional belief that magic actually existed. And every unexplainable act that he performed would be explained away with the self-assured naivety that only teenagers have. Because at that age, Corvo thought he knew everything and refused to believe his fellow guards when they reported any strange incidents that they associated with magic. Looking back at it, he was pretty sure his disbelief stemmed from the fact that his mother hated anything the Abbey didn’t like, and Corvo, even after his parents died, had still wanted them to be proud of him. And there was no way his mother would even stand to look at him if she caught him discussing things that were deemed heretical by the Abbey.

 _‘Though, since I’m already associating with the Outsider, let's complete this betrayal to my mother by stealing a corpse. That’ll make her proud,’_ Corvo thought sarcastically as he turned away from the unconscious Overseer and created a diversion to take down the other guard. Along with picking up the body for Mindy Blanchard, he wanted to grab any runes and bone charms, because it wasn’t like the Overseer’s would be doing anything but leave them to gather dust. And, when that was complete, he could finally make his way to Addermire.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

When Corvo first laid eyes upon Alexandria Hypatia, he knew there was something wrong with her. Everything he’d heard about her made her out to be a kind woman who really cared for her patients. So the fact that she was no longer treating anyone, coupled with all of the bloodflies that had taken up residence in the area leading to her lab, and the dead bird she was taking apart when he arrived, clued Corvo into the fact that something was seriously wrong. This meant when her assistant, who he found laying on a couch looking like a living skeleton, told him that Hypatia was actually the Crown Killer, he had only been half surprised. Her behavior alone would tell any sane person that there was something seriously wrong with her mental state. Though he wasn’t quite sure how he felt when he realized she had been the one to capture Anton Sokolov, or the fact that her being poisoned seemed to create this alter ego that went out slaughtering people. It was something he could easily believe, since Duke Luca Abele was working with Delilah and the actions of the Crown Killer made Delilah look better when she removed Emily, who hadn’t been able to deal with the Crown Killer at all.

The thing that rubbed him the wrong way though, was the fact that the circumstances surrounding Hypatia’s alter ego meant she wasn’t fully in control of her actions. This made her a victim just as much as Anton and Emily. At the same time though, Corvo wanted to punish someone immediately for all the trouble the Crown Killer brought to the people he cared for. However, Corvo’s sense of justice would not let him kill, or in any way injure, Alexandria Hypatia for this, not when she wasn’t completely responsible for the deaths caused by the Crown Killer. So, despite the fact that Corvo would much rather run her through with his sword and watch as her blood covered the floor of her lab, he instead went to go make that antidote. What he would do though, was hold onto what he was feeling and allow it to simmer as he continued on his quest. It would just be another thing to add to the list of crimes committed by Serkonos’ Duke, and he had a feeling that that list would continue to get longer before the two of them came face to face.

But not even the fact that he would eventually quench his thirst for revenge against the Duke for the Crown Killer’s crimes could mask the disappointment he felt with this mission. He’d gone to Addermire hoping to find Anton and the Crown Killer, and while he still hadn’t found any clues concerning Anton’s whereabouts, except for the fact that he clearly wasn’t in Addermire, this mission was not ending the way he expected it to. While he didn’t actually injure many people when performing his duties for Emily as Lord Protector, he had expected this to progress in about the same way his revenge quest for Jessamine did. 

What not many people knew about him, despite the fact that his job was Lord Protector to the Empress of Dunwall, was the fact that Corvo had a bit of a violent streak. It was how he was able to win the Blade Verbena at 16, and eventually gain the job as the Lord Protector to Jessamine Kaldwin, because of how ruthless he was with a sword. Over the years though, and having to learn that he couldn’t defeat every opponent with a weapon, Corvo had come to appreciate the fact that there were ways to take down an opponent without a sword that were just as violent. Over the years, he’d spent many a boring meeting imagining all of the different ways he could remove someone that presented a threat to Jessamine. Once the two of them had become lovers, he became more creative in his thinking, which was what led to his approach in getting revenge for Jessamine. That thirst for blood had not abated in the years after Jessamine’s death and had instead gotten worse with all of the people who sought to use Emily. Whether it was people looking for her hand in marriage, or hoping to gain the Empresses favor to accomplish their goals, Corvo had found himself actually fighting not to draw his sword and run someone through almost every hour of every day.

However, no matter how much he wanted to sate his thirst for blood and violence, Corvo couldn’t allow himself to injure Hypatia because she was a victim in all of this, despite the amount of blood she had on her hands. It was why Corvo decided it would be better to spare her, but also because he couldn’t help but be reminded of all of the people who talked about the good work she did. In some ways, she reminded him of Anton and Pietro. Both of them had worked hard to create a serum that would help people during the rat plague and the good doctor was trying to do just that, except this would help people with bloodfly fever. Though she didn’t just work with people who had been affected by bloodfly fever, she worked with anyone who approached her. Of course, he couldn’t help but hope this would serve as a lesson for Hypatia. Since it was her work with dangerous, unknown substances that brought about this mess with the poison and the Crown Killer. Only time would tell, but Corvo knew that next time this happened, he wouldn’t be so lenient. He wasn’t the kind of man who gave second chances, so if someone screwed up once that was it. If they didn’t clean up their act, he would take them down and not feel an ounce of guilt. Only time would would reveal what the eventual fate of Alexandria Hypatia would be.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

When Corvo initially decided to dismantle the elevator in Addermire, he wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting to accomplish. In fact, he couldn’t even say what had led him to think it would be a good idea. Regardless of his intentions, what was done was done, and his lack of any kind of impulse control had led him to using Blink to reach the bottom of the elevator shaft. When he got there, he hadn’t expected to find some kind of secret basement, and he wasn’t overly surprised by the water that had seeped in through the walls. Judging by the state of the room, it wasn’t one that had seen much use in the past. After doing a quick sweep of the room with Dark Vision, Corvo jumped down off of the elevator, and heard a low buzzing noise coming from what appeared to be some kind of storage area. As he moved up the wooden steps, he could hardly believe how sturdy they were and how they hadn’t gotten damaged by the water yet.

Once he’d picked up the rune, and the painting that was just sitting there, Corvo decided to take a moment to look around. It was a habit he had gotten into, because it meant he could find items, careless notes that had been abandoned by the enemy, or money, especially since it was always tight when he went rogue. Though considering the fact that this basement seemed to be full of forgotten things, he wondered if he would find anything interesting on the patient's, since it seemed like he’d already picked up everything of worth. It was during his search of the shelves that he found an old, slightly battered journal that looked like someone had set it down in the middle of reading it. Acting on impulse once again, Corvo grabbed the journal and flipped it to the front page.

“The Property of Vera Moray,” Corvo read out loud, “It’s been years since I’ve heard that name”.

It was an odd experience, for him to have found this journal sitting in what was probably the basement of Addermire. Vera Moray, or Granny Rags as she’d been known in the last years of her life, had been labeled as crazy by the people who lived in near her. Corvo had been inclined to believe them, based solely on how she acted when he first met her. She’d kept talking to animals he couldn’t see, and seemed to confuse him with her dead husband. But then he caught her trying to kill Slackjaw, the leader of the Bottle Street gang. Despite the way in which the Outsider had spoken of her, he’d never thought she could also have borne his mark until that very moment. And, while he hadn’t held any fondness for either Slackjaw or Granny Rags, he decided to take her down in the end. But all his encounters with Granny Rags had left a deep impression on him, and one that should have imparted a very important lesson. Instead, he’d tried to forget about her and the fact that she too had borne the Outsider’s mark and had gone crazy in the end. _‘But Daud had the mark as well’_ , he tried to rationalize, thinking of the assassin who had killed Jessamine, and then tried to kill him as well. _‘But maybe that’s what the mark does’_ , Corvo mused as he skimmed the entries in the old, worn diary, _‘maybe it tempts anyone who has it down a dark, dangerous path’_. 

From what he could tell, Vera Moray had been a perfectly normal citizen until she’d gone to Pandyssia and encountered a boy with black eyes. While Vera never mentioned how she met the Outsider, for whom else could it be, it was apparent she’d become obsessed with him after gaining his mark. It some ways, it seemed a shame that she was sent to Addermire because everyone around her thought she was crazy, going on and on about the Outsider when most people would never meet him at all. But he couldn’t help but wonder what had caused her to stop being a functioning member of society. At some point, Vera Moray had become so lost in her obsession that she had forgotten how to live.

Even though she’d eventually gotten out of here, apparently due to some amazing acting skills, her life had never been the same. Instead, it’d been ruined as she became lost in her wish to harness the power of the Outsider. Learning about this now, Corvo had to wonder just what kind of impact the mark of the Outsider could leave on a person’s psyche. He didn’t know enough about Daud to make any assumptions about the man, but he knew that Vera Moray had become a completely different person. Though he wasn’t sure what might eventually happen to him due to bearing the mark of the Outsider. He could admit to the fact that he had a certain attachment to the advantages his abilities gave him, but he also knew that his personality had not changed much, even after he received the Outsider’s mark. Ultimately though, it didn’t really matter in this moment. So long as he could keep track of his goal, and try to keep his head above water, that was all he cared about. But still, as Corvo moved from the platform, he felt like the words from Vera Moray’s diary would haunt him for the rest of his journey.


	3. The Second Stricture

**Chapter 3: The Second Stricture**

****

**Lying Tongue**

His current mission was to go to Kirin Jindosh’s Clockwork manor, because that was where Alexandria Hypatia had taken Anton Sokolov when she had been under the effects of the poison she had discovered. Though that wasn’t the only reason why he was going after Jindosh. He was currently supplying Duke Luca Abele, and by extension Delilah, with his clockwork soldiers. So he would have gone after Jindosh regardless, if only to keep him from producing more of those soldiers, but when he realized that Jindosh also had Sokolov, he’d become Corvo’s next target. That was why he and Meagan Foster had taken her rowboat down a river to reach the Aventa District, which he needed to travel through to reach Jindosh’s Clockwork manor. It wouldn’t be easy, because the area was heavily guarded and he would also need to make his way past a Wall of Light, but Corvo knew he could do it. It was at times like this that he regretted his vow not to kill anyone, but also why he appreciated the power he wielded that much more.

“Though who knows if that’s the best idea,” Corvo said as he made his way out of the sewer area and out onto a set of steps that would that lead into the Lower Aventa District. 

Once he made sure he was alone, Corvo pulled out the mechanical heart to see where all of the nearby runes and bone charms were located. It was something he always made sure he did when entering a new area. While the bone charms seemed to have some kind of passive effects that helped him in many ways, it was the runes he focused more on finding. This was ultimately because the runes would help him out more on his journey, since he needed those to upgrade the abilities he had access to. Though he always marveled over the fact that the mechanical heart he owned had some strange connection to all of the runes and bone charms he found. He was almost certain it was because the Outsider was the one who had created the heart, and the runes, though he wasn’t sure why the bone charms were included as well. As far as he knew, both seemed to be made out of whale bone, so that might be the reason, but he couldn’t be sure. However, his confusion over that didn’t quite compare to the fact that he didn’t understand how this connection really even worked. Somehow, whenever he pulled out the heart, it seemed like the area around him went black and then he could see faint outlines of the runes and bone charms from their locations. 

Unfortunately, it never really gave him the exact location of the objects, which made sense but it was a bit disappointing. That just meant he had to be extra careful when exploring places, so that he didn’t actually miss anything important. And of course, the one thing he always made sure to find were the shrines made to the Outsider. While he didn’t really understand why people made them, because he couldn’t understand why anyone might want to worship the Outsider in any form, he always appreciated them. Not only could he usually get two runes from the shrines, he always got to encounter the Outsider as well. Even though it was always strange to get briefly pulled into the void, his cryptic conversations with were always useful. At the very least, it tended to give him some insight into his current situation, and while those conversations might just be commentary on what was going on, sometimes the Outsider gave him information about the opponent he was about to confront.

Moving through one of the apartment building’s in the Lower Aventa District wasn’t difficult, despite the fact that the upper floors had bloodfly nests. Corvo was easily able to navigate through those, picking up money and items along the way. And, as always, he found documents left behind by those who had died, mostly due to the bloodflies that were haunting the streets of Karnaca. For the most part, the documents weren’t the most useful things, but the notes he found on the second floor of the building were disturbing to say the least. He hadn’t actually heard of anyone trying to conduct a seance before, and he certainly hadn’t thought someone would actually try to kill themselves to see the void. Corvo had heard all about how some people, who had been on the verge of death, had claimed to have seen the void before being brought back to life and he had always been skeptical of those claims.

Of course, he was more skeptical of it now than he had been before. After having seen it first hand, he knew better than anyone what it looked like. And he had to say, it was not a place Corvo enjoyed visiting. It was a cold, dark place devoid of any life, and the fact that people would willingly throw their own lives away to see it made chills creep down his spine. He had known for a while now that there were plenty of people who worshipped the Outsider like he was a god, but he had also seen first hand what the Outsider’s favor could do to people. He’d seen Granny Rags become twisted over her obsession, and Daud, the man who controlled supernatural assassins, had been a bitter man due to his connection with the Outsider and the jobs he’d gained because of his reputation. Corvo could even admit that he had a certain obsession with his own powers, but he had never once thought about taking his own life over this. Yet here he had in his hands were what appeared to be seance notes in which someone described how they, and a group of their friends, had been willing to sacrifice their own lives just to glimpse the void.

“And they probably died for that wish”, Corvo muttered, looking over the paragraph that described their use of bloodflies to bring themselves to the brink of death.

Reading these few paragraphs mostly made Corvo angry, but unfortunately he had no outlet for his anger. He was angry with these people, who had willingly put themselves in harms way all for the void. A place that had only brought him misery, but was this mythical place, just out of reach for most people. He was also angry with the Outsider, for being the inspiration for these people, even though his role in this whole mess was incidental. He only resided in the void, and it’s not like the person who had written these notes wrote anything about a man with black hair and eyes. Instead, they had described the void, in pretty good detail towards the end, meaning one of two things could be true. Either they had read one of those books published on the void, which Corvo still thought was based off of some pretty good guesses, or they had somehow actually managed to see the void, which he was less inclined to believe. Crumpling up the paper, he continued to make his way through the building, his anger simmering just below the surface.

He hoped, quite foolishly, that as he moved through the building, destroying some bloodfly nests along the way, that his anger might dissipate before he reached the Outsider’s shrine. And it had, until he realized that the shrine was clearly the place where they had been conducting their seances at. The entire area was a mess, and Corvo could see at least one corpse from where he stood in the doorway leading into the room. As he stared stood near the hole he just climbed through, he couldn’t help but wonder how long had it been since these people decided to perform their seance. While he couldn’t be certain, he was almost a hundred percent certain that performing a seance to enter the void might fall under the list of things the Abbey of the Everyman didn’t approve of. And this apartment building was right down the street from an Overseer outpost. So part of him wondered if these people had first decided to perform the seance before the bloodflies had taken over. If their original purpose hadn’t been to see the void, but for the rush of doing something that might be banned by the Overseer’s, and right under their noses as well. But at the same time, there wasn’t a huge time gap between the first seance and when they used the bloodflies, so there was a possibility that they had conducted their experiments after the infestation. 

_‘Unless they snuck in some blood flies, and their corpses were what caused the infestation’_ , Corvo thought as he directed his vision to the center of the room. That was where he found the shrine. It was perfectly intact with two runes sitting on a purple cloth, and shimmering with the black magic that signified their connection to the Outsider. Seeing the table in perfect condition, despite how wrecked the rest of the room was caused a surge of white hot anger to rush through his body. In a way, this exemplified the Outsider perfectly. He was an untouchable deity who refused to directly interfere with human affairs. Instead, he gave bits of his power to people and sat back to watch as the chaos unfolded. The Outsider didn’t care at all for human lives, and while he didn’t seem disgusted with the killing that humans participated in, Corvo noticed he drew a certain amount of amusement from watching him not kill anyone. In a way, he felt like a shiny toy for the Outsider, where he was constantly expected to perform new and better tricks to stay in his favor. 

“Let me tell you a story about Kirin Jindosh,” the Outsider said the moment he materialized after Corvo picked up the runes. As the Outsider went on to talk about the life of Kirin Jindosh, and how he had been kicked out of the Academy of Natural Philosophy, Corvo thought about what his life had become. Because no matter how disgusted he may become with the Outsider’s actions, or the things people would do in the name of the Outsider, he couldn’t walk away. After constantly using the power given to him by the Outsider for so long, it had become an integral part of his life. Currently, the mark felt like one of his limbs, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would be lost without this power. At this point, walking away wasn’t really an option. Even if he did, he would be forced to carry the burden of the Outsider’s mark forever. This mark was dangerous in many ways, because breathing a word of it to anyone would cause him to end up before the Overseers.

That was the last thing he wanted, because that encounter would end in one of two ways. He would either be seen as crazy, thrown into a place like Addermire, and treated like Granny Rags had. Or, he would be killed, and most likely used as an example by the Overseers to warn the people against becoming involved with the Outsider. While having to face the Overseers would not help his situation, the mark of the Outsider bore it’s own dangers as well. However, despite the consequences of the mark, and all the questions he had about what might happen to him, he always seemed to have a reason to keep using it. Last time, it was Jessamine’s body, covered in red and smelling of copper that kept him up at night. Now, all he could see was Emily, frozen in stone and reaching for Delilah. And, just like with the thoughts of revenge for Jessamine, all he had to do was think about Emily’s fate and any doubts he had about using this power were washed away. Because nothing was more important than saving his own daughter. Not even his own life, or sanity.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

“Wait please, you don’t know what you are doing!”

Corvo felt a sense of grim satisfaction as Kirin Jindosh writhed on the chair, screaming and pleading with him; trying to reason with him and convince him of how important his work was. But Corvo didn’t care. In fact, he was instead reminded of something Admiral Farley Havelock said to him, all those years ago. It had been so long that Corvo couldn’t remember what he had said word for word, but he remembered what the Admiral meant when he gave him that briefing before his mission to take down High Overseer Campbell. That to restore Emily to her throne he would have to murder people; maybe even murder innocent people. And Corvo knew he could have done it as well. Watched as hot, red blood flowed from the bodies of his enemies and stained his blade. He could have hid in the shadows as their bodies were torn apart by grenades and spring razors; watching as flesh and blood rained down on the streets of Dunwall. But Corvo decided against that for two reasons: the first being he refused to kill any of the guards. They’d just been doing their jobs and he couldn’t fault them for that, even if it made his own goal that much harder to obtain.

And the second reason: death was too simple for those who had played any major role in the death of Jessamine. No matter how violent their deaths, Corvo would have to live with the fact that each person involved would not have paid for what they had done. With Jessamine rotting below the Earth, and Emily struggling to move on without her Mother, death would have relieved them of their rightful suffering. So he moved through the shadows, made easier with his abilities Blink and Dark Vision, and he ripped their safety nets apart. The nice, comfortable lives they had lived before were destroyed and they were thrust into situations that were the exact opposite of what they were used to. From Morgan and Custis Pendleton being forced to work in their own mines, to Lady Boyle being handed over to her stalker, he did things that Jessamine wouldn’t have approved of, but in the end, he had gotten his revenge for her and that was what mattered the most.

And once again, Corvo was walking that fine line, as Kirin Jindosh’s screams died off and he started muttering about not knowing who he was. Not that he cared. Jindosh, despite the fact that he was a brilliant scientist, was consorting with the enemy. Not only had he lent his clockwork soldiers to Duke Luca Abele, the man who helped Delilah get into Dunwall, but he’d played a part in the capture of Anton Sokolov. Though if that had been the worst of it, Corvo might have let him get off with a quick, easy death. But no, Jindosh decided that whatever Anton knew was too important to pass up, and the easiest way to get that information was through torture. And while Corvo didn’t know what it felt like to have an electric current run through his body, he was no stranger to torture. 

All he had to do was think too much about the chair he’d strapped Jindosh to and he was back in Coldridge Prison. He could remember the bite of steel, the smell of burning flesh, and the ugly sneer on Burrow’s and Campbell’s faces as they stood nearby and watched. Corvo wanted to laugh bitterly when he thought about Campbell being in the prison with Burrows, and the fact that he approved of this torture. He spent all his time pretending to be some pious holy man, but really, he’d been abusing his power as the High Overseer. If the people had known about what Campbell had been doing, they probably would have revolted. Those kinds of actions would have only been approved of during the Fugue Feast, and yet he got away with it because he’d been High Overseer.

 _‘Its things like that that would push any man away from the Abbey and closer to the Outsider’_ , Corvo thought as he gave Jindosh one last look before exiting the room. As he walked away, Corvo felt no guilt over what he’d done, because Jindosh had been planning to torture his friend, despite the fact that, once, Anton Sokolov had been in a situation close to his. The two had been on opposite sides after Jessamine’s death, with Anton working for Burrows, and he with the Loyalists, led by Havelock, Treavor Pendleton, and eventually, Teague Martin. It was his connection with the Loyalists that had led him to stealing Anton from his home in the dead of night. It was the capture of Anton that had allowed Corvo to take out two different threats, the first being the weapons Anton was making for Dunwall, and by extension Burrows. The second was Lady Boyle,the lover and financial backer to Burrows. Of course, Corvo and Anton had still been enemies when this went down, but Corvo wasn’t really sure if “enemies” was the appropriate word. Anton had just happened to be working for the other side, though he hadn’t been to attached to working with Burrows, since he’d given up the information they needed with the right kind of persuasion.

But now, Anton was one of his closest friends and he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he would once again be able to help him out with what he was trying to accomplish. Though first they first needed to get out alive. And so Corvo once again snuck through the inner walls of the manor, going back the same way he entered, trying to focus on saving Emily, instead of the past, the Outsider, or even the Overseers. Unfortunately, he had a feeling that it wouldn’t be that easy. Just being back in Karnaca had felt like a bad omen, and he would stand by that feeling because around every corner it felt like he was facing down a different demon. Not only was he reminded of the echoes of his childhood on every street corner, he was constantly trying not to think about how his family, more so his mother, would react if they saw him as he was now. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, and one he desperately wanted to avoid but couldn’t. Every time he thought he might be able to, he was either confronted with the ghosts of his childhood or remnants of his revenge journey for Jessamine. It didn’t make for a pleasant situation at all, and for once Corvo wished he was the kind of man who found comfort in praying. Lots of people prayed because they wished for someone to help shoulder the weight of whatever burden they were facing. He didn’t believe that worked, not since he’d seen his mother praying all the time as a child and then had to watch as nothing in their lives ever changed. That had stuck with him for the rest of his life, and he felt bitterness rise up within him every time he encountered anyone praying. 

Of course, there was also the fact that, at the same time, it seemed like his demons from the past were being drowned out by the demons of his present. He was worried about Emily, but he hadn’t once cared about the consequences behind using the Outsider’s power previously. Now he felt like that was all he was being confronted with, with every new person he encountered. All he saw were the negative consequences of being entangled with the Outsider, but he was never presented with any positive alternative. There was no way in hell Corvo would ever turn to the Abbey of the Everyman and the Overseers, because in many respects, they were worse than the Outsider. This whole thing left him feeling conflicted, and for the first time in his life, he almost felt the urge to pray.

“But who would I pray to? The god of the Abbey, or the Outsider? The god who was never there? Or the deity who didn’t care?” Corvo asked, but the only reply he got was the silence of the world outside the Clockwork manor. In a way, the silence reflected the presence of the Outsider and the god of the Abbey within the world. They were something that played no physical role in the world, and yet everyone felt their presence. Neither one could be seen, and while some found comfort in both the Outsider and the god of the Abbey, others saw them as being oppressive. It made for an interesting contrast, and yet Corvo felt like neither one would provide him with the answers he sought.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

When Corvo awoke once again to feeling like he’d been dunked into ice cold water, he was confused. He knew immediately upon waking up that he had been pulled into the void, but he just didn’t understand why. During his last journey, the only time he’d been pulled into the void by the Outsider was when he first received the mark. After that, he had had brief encounters with the void, but that was mostly due to the fact that he had seen the Outsider each time he visited one of the shrines that were made in his name. He had assumed it would be the same this time as well, and so he couldn’t quite figure out why he had been pulled into the void. It didn’t make sense, but he knew standing around wouldn’t solve it and since the back wall was still intact, he moved over to the door and opened it.

“The void again...but it feels different.” Corvo said, gripping his sword as he stared at the trees coming up out of the floor of the Dreadful Wale.

Moving cautiously, he made his way up the steps and towards the archway in the distance. He was sure that that was where he would find his answers, though he was completely shocked when it wasn’t the Outsider who appeared, but Delilah instead. She told him that she had been the one to pull him into the void and that the Outsider had also marked her long ago. Looking her over, Corvo could definitely believe that she had encountered the Outsider at some point in her life and that he had had some significant impact on her. But then she mentioned Emily, stuck back in Dunwall, and he took a step forward. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to run his sword through her heart. All he could think about was how sweet her death would be, and it took him a moment to calm down and think about all of this rationally. He wasn’t sure if anyone could actually die while inside the void. More importantly, even if she did die, he had no idea if he would immediately wake up back in the real world, or if he would be stuck to wander through the void forever.

So instead, he decided to restrain himself and listen to what Delilah had to say. And it seemed like she would be sticking to her story about being Jessamine’s half-sister. Corvo felt his face twist into a grimace as she mentioned wanting to show him memories, to prove that her story was true. Before he could even attempt to say anything though, Delilah disappeared just as easily as she had appeared. This meant he would be forced to travel through the void and view these memories, even though he didn’t understand how that would even happen. It all became clear when he reached the next archway, as a scene seemed to be playing out right before his eyes. What he saw was a young girl who had to be Delilah, and a man he immediately recognized as Emperor Kaldwin, Jessamine’s father. Each of the scenes after the first chronicled a sad story; showing him a young Jessamine and Delilah playing together, breaking a vase that was probably irreparable, and then, Jessamine blaming it all on Delilah. After, he saw Delilah and her mother getting thrown out of the tower and the difficult life she faced after that. It made him sad to think about it, but…

“How much of this is true. And how much of it is Delilah’s warped imagination.” Corvo wondered as he faced a swirling pool of blue light at the end of this twisted journey. But it seemed his day of strange encounters wasn’t over yet, because the moment he returned to the Dreadful Wale he had a brief conversation with Jessamine. While he wanted to feel happy over the fact that he got to see her again, he was worried because of the contents of their brief conversation. Just like last time, it seemed more like she was speaking at him, not with him. And he was surprised to hear her ask if she was to blame for Delilah’s bitterness. That had caught him off guard and while he had readily denied it, because there was no way it could be her fault, he felt a strange weight that he hadn’t felt before entering the void.

That one sentence from Jessamine had felt like an admission of guilt, but at the same time it didn’t actually confirm anything. And Corvo just had to accept the fact that he might not ever learn the entire truth. Oh, he could easily admit that some of what Delilah was saying was true, because he had no proof that it wasn’t. However, he could also easily acknowledge the fact that Delilah’s view on the entire thing might not have been what truly happened, or that it even covered all of the details. What he could say was that for whatever reason, Delilah and her mother had been living in Dunwall tower and that one day, they had been thrown out. If that was truly because of Jessamine he couldn’t really say, but he could acknowledge that life was tough for people that didn’t have a lot of money. So it was mostly likely the struggles that Delilah had to face after leaving Dunwall Tower that ended up having the most influence on her memory of what happened. And, ultimately, Corvo decided that he wouldn’t make a judgement on the situation at all. Even if Jessamine had done actually done that as a child, she had eventually grown up to be a beautiful woman who had really cared for her people. Now that he thought about it, maybe Jessamine worried so much for her people because of what happened with Delilah. 

Either way, Corvo finally had to admit to the fact that something just didn’t add up about this whole situation. It had been years since this supposed incident took place, and if Delilah had really wanted revenge for that, then it would have made more sense for her to reappear when Jessamine was still alive. Of course, this brought him back to something the Outsider had said when he saw him the first time, that Delilah was after more than just the throne. At the time, he hadn’t really paid attention to that, because he had been to angry over his inability to protect Emily but he now had to acknowledge that the Outsider had definitely been right. Delilah’s actions, mostly dragging him into the void, felt like a demonstration of power that didn’t quite fit the situation he thought they were in. Most people assumed that Delilah really did want to be the Empress of Dunwall, but he felt like there had to be more to it than that. What she was after he couldn’t really say, but he could probably make some guesses.

At this point, he would honestly say that her ultimate goal would involve either the void or the Outsider in some capacity. The way in which she manipulated the void certainly spoke to the amount of power she had, and to the fact that she now had some kind of influence within the void. He could only assume this was due to the fact that she had supposedly been marked by the Outsider at some point, and then had absorbed the power from his mark back in Dunwall Tower. But Corvo couldn’t really say if that was important in any way or not, because he also knew that he didn’t have all of the relevant information yet. There was the obvious fact that Delilah clearly hadn’t given him all of the details to her evil plan yet, but more surprisingly, or maybe not, was the fact that the Outsider knew just what it was Delilah was after. Though in typical Outsider fashion, he hadn’t bothered to share any of the details. He was sure it was probably because he didn’t want to include a human in his personal affairs, but if it had anything to do with how he would eventually have to take Delilah down, then Corvo felt like he needed to know. But Corvo, being a mere mortal with only a small fraction of the Outsider’s power, was stuck. All he could do was continue with his own mission and hope that the Outsider might feel generous and share the details with him. 

“Honestly, when did my life get so complicated?” Corvo asked himself as he left his room. He knew the answer to that before he’d even asked it. While some might say it was the moment Emily got turned to stone, he would have to say it was the moment he met the Outsider. If he had never met him, Corvo still would have been able to get his revenge for Jessamine, though it would have involved a lot more bloodshed. Instead, he life got tangled up with the Outsider and he found himself getting caught up in the web his magic weaved. Now that he was really thinking about it, his sole connection to the Outsider was through the magic he wielded, and if he had just ignored this from the start, his life might just be a little less complicated. Though if he were being honest with himself, everything would have been easier if the Outsider had stayed as some story the Abbey told to make sure people did what they wanted. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the way life worked and so Corvo was stuck with the Outsider and this ever tightening web he wove. And no matter how much he might struggle against it, he was pulled in further by the Outsider and his power, until he wasn’t sure he if would ever return to a normal, peaceful life.


	4. The Fourth Stricture

**Chapter 4: The Fourth Stricture**

****

**Roving Feet**

Corvo had to admit that, if it had not been for Anton Sokolov, he would not have known where to go next. Kirin Jindosh, unfortunately, had not left any obvious clues as to who he might be working with, and at this point in time he did not have any easy way to re-enter Dunwall and get close to Delilah. On top of that, he had to make sure that once he took her down, she stayed down for good and couldn’t pull off any more stunts like this. That meant he had to take down her power base first and foremost. And unlike with his previous mission, Delilah had only had two obvious supporters at the outset, Duke Luca Abele and Kirin Jindosh. It was only through Meagan Foster that he had learned about Anton’s disappearance and his connection to the Crown Killer. From that point on, it seemed like he had just kept stumbling upon the next piece of information he needed; being guided more by luck than by anything else. For a brief moment, this had actually made him miss Admiral Havelock and how efficient the Loyalists had been.

 _'Then again,'_ Corvo thought as the skiff moved carefully through the water, _'they did have six months to plan their rebellion.'_

So, it was all thanks to Anton that he was heading to Cyria Gardens to try and find Breanna Ashworth. It was believed that she was hiding out at the Royal Conservatory, but to get more details about her location, he would have to make his way to Vice Overseer Byrne’s office in the Overseer Outpost. At this point, Corvo wanted to go more than one mission where he did not have any encounters with the Overseers, but luck was not on his side this time. So he could only hope that he was able to gather some good information from Byrne, and as always, there was the possibility that he would see more hints of corruption within the Abbey. That would actually work in his favor in regards to his current mission, because it meant that Byrne was liable to have some useful information.

First, though, he would have to find the outpost. That wouldn’t be the easiest thing to do because the Overseers did not make it obvious as to where their outposts were located. Which meant his only option was to reach higher ground and try and see if he could find anything that would point him in the right direction. So with that in mind, Corvo made his way past the men standing on the fishing boats and used Blink to reach the balcony of a nearby apartment building. After quickly exploring the inside of one of the rooms, and only finding a couple of things of note, he walked outside and took in what he could see of Cyria Gardens. While it gave him a good view of the street, it didn’t allow him to see onto the tops of any of the nearby buildings, though he did take note of the tallest one across the street. His options for entry were to either sneak past the guards on the ground, or to climb the balconies on the other side and enter from the roof. After observing the patrol patterns of the guards on the street, he decided the roof would make a better entry point and Blinked back down onto the street below. 

Being mindful of where he moved, and avoiding the citizens who looked like they would give him a hard time, Corvo moved through the shadows until he reached a good spot to use Blink. After he climbed up a good portion of the building he started hearing voices coming from the nearby roof. Crouching low, he peered over the edge and saw some of the grand guard standing around. Their positions suggested they were keeping watch, and that meant there had to be something worth guarding in the building. Corvo was almost certain that this had to be the outpost, so all he had to do was get inside.

“Well, let’s see what I can do,” he said, pulling out his crossbow. Through a strategic use of Sleep Darts and Bend Time, he quickly dispatched the guards. After placing them in an out of the way place where they couldn’t easily be seen, Corvo dropped down into the building through the open skylight window. It only took him a few moments to take care of both the only Overseer in sight as well as the only trap; a lone trip wire standing a few feet from a door in what appeared to be an office space. While the desk had an audiograph on top, which might have something of importance, Corvo instead took the time to explore the apartment. When his search didn’t turn up anything that would be useful at all, he went back to the desk and played the audiograph.

“So Breanna’s in the Royal Conservatory,” Corvo said aloud when the audiograph had finished. While he now knew where to find her, he was also concerned about the fact that she was staying with the Oracular Order. They were the all female equivalent of the Abbey, and had a lot of influence themselves. So the fact that Breanna was there, coupled with the fact that there was now tension between the Oracular Order and the Abbey could only spell disaster. He was worried about what Delilah, through Breanna, might be trying to do with the Oracular Order. However, that was secondary to his main objective, and he didn’t have the time to be overly concerned about what went on with the Oracular Order. But this did raise the question of how Breanna was able to take over the Royal Conservatory, and what exactly she was doing for Delilah. With the Oracular order staying in the building, she had to have been ordered to stay there by Delilah to conduct some kind of experiment, and that was what had him worried the most. So while taking care of Breanna, he had to make sure he stopped whatever it was she was trying to do, because it might prove to weaken Delilah in some way.

Though that wasn’t the only thing he was worried about. He found it slightly concerning that Vice Overseer Byrne wasn’t even here in Cyria Gardens. Corvo had expected to run into some trouble with him. Instead, he’d found his empty office and heard through the audiograph that he was somewhere else. Where, he had no idea, but he could only hope the man wouldn’t end up causing him trouble later on. But it was always hard to tell with these religious men. Once upon a time, he’d thought High Overseer Campbell had been odd, but he ultimately hadn’t thought of him as the type to seek power in the way he did. But now he couldn’t be too sure with Byrne, especially since the situation with the Abbey and the Oracular Order was so tense. Of course, the fact that the man wasn’t here, when the audiograph seemed to hint that he should, proved that he felt whatever he was currently dealing with was more important the threat of Breanna staying with the Oracular Order. This meant, with the luck Corvo had been having recently, he was bound to get mixed up in whatever mess Byrne was currently trying to deal with. If he had to make an educated guess, which he rarely ever did, he would have to say it probably had something to do with the Howler gang. He’d had some close run-ins with them previously, and he was almost a hundred percent certain that they were the ones hanging out by the docks earlier. However, regardless of what might be happening between Byrne and the Howler gang, all he could do was focus on his current objective and deal with them if it got to that point.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

Truth be told, when Corvo finally entered the Royal Conservatory he hadn’t expected Delilah and her people to have completely taken over the place. Of course he knew Breanna had been there, but what he saw hadn’t been quite what he had been imagining. At most, he thought she might have employed some of the grand guard and would have them crawling all over the place so they could protect her as she worked. He certainly hadn’t expected to see strange dogs coming from glowing green stones, witches, some of whom were caring for bloodflies, and moving plants. It was a strange experience, because the only magic Corvo had any experience with was what he could use as a result of the mark he received from the Outsider. But the magic Delilah and her witches used seemed to be inherently different from what he himself could use.

It made him wonder just how different their magic was, and how exactly they had access to it. From what he could gather, he himself seemed to have access to some of the Outsider’s own power but he wasn’t sure if it was the same for Delilah and her witches or not. But what he knew for certain was that did not want to face them head on, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to overcome their magic. If he had focused more on offensive magic, and not anything that would enhance his ability to move in the shadows, then he might have stood a chance. But with his magic as it was now, there was no way he would be able to overcome them in a face to face battle. But ultimately, that wasn’t what concerned him the most about Breanna’s take over of the Royal Conservatory. What he had been most worried about, was what Delilah was hoping to accomplish by having Breanna stationed here. Through the course of his explorations, Corvo found out that Breanna Ashworth and Kirin Jindosh had created a strange device called “The Oraculum”. This device, which would connect Breanna to the void, would give her the ability to manipulate the dreams of the sisters of the Oracular Order. 

From what Corvo knew of the Oracular Order, the sisters were believed to have prophetic dreams, which they would then relay to the Abbey and the Duke of Serkonos. Both organizations took these dreams seriously, and it was those prophetic dreams that gave the Oracular Order so much power within Karnaca, and Serkonos as a whole. And while Corvo certainly didn’t care for the Oracular Order at all, he could not ignore what Breanna and Delilah were trying to do. Though, now that he knew about “The Oraculum”, and what it did, the newspaper article he read back in Cyria Gardens made a whole lot more sense. Supposedly, the sisters of the Oracular Order had a vision concerning Delilah and now wanted to give her their support. The Duke had been informed immediately, and because they were a religious organization, their words carried a certain weight an ordinary citizen’s might not.

However, if Delilah had Breanna influencing the dreams of the sisters, that would call into question the validity of the “vision” they supposedly had. Though this ability would essentially allow Delilah to influence what the sisters would say in regards to the visions they believed they saw. It also meant that she would be able to changed how people viewed the Abbey, as well as the public’s stance on a wide variety of issues. That in turn could have an impact on how the Abbey dealt with certain things, such as magic and those who used it. Ultimately that would work in her favor, because at the moment it did not seem like she had any power within Serkonos. While she did have the Duke on her side, she was definitely lacking support from the people. But if she could change the opinions of the Oracular Order, she could essentially do whatever she wanted. Using the sisters of the Order, Delilah could make the Abbey irrelevant, by changing the sisters, and therefore the people’s, views on magic. If she could succeed in doing that, then she would suddenly gain more support than she currently had.

It would all depend on how she did it, and then how, and when, she ended up revealing her own power. While this all sounded like it might be a good idea, it still didn’t feel like that was her end goal. Instead, Corvo was sure that this was only a small stepping stone in her overall plan. “While Delilah has taken the throne, she’s aiming for something much greater,” was what the Outsider said to him at the start of his journey, or at least something to that effect. Meaning he would have to put together all the clues he already had if he wanted to figure out what she was ultimately after. So he knew for certain that she probably felt slighted by the fact that, according to her, Jessamine had gotten her and her mother thrown from the palace. This had lead to the death of her mother and had set Delilah on the path that had led to her learning how to use magic. So, while her ultimate goal wasn’t to just rule over Dunwall, at the very least it had to be one of the obstacles she had needed to overcome. 

Then, he knew that Delilah wanted control of the Oracular Order, and she was using the void to do that. Obviously, having control of the Oracular Order meant that she could change how the people of Serkonos viewed magic and how the people who practiced it were treated. While that in itself wasn’t a bad goal, Corvo had a problem with how she was trying to accomplish it. It was wrong to force someone’s views onto other people, especially through the use of force. That was exactly what Delilah was trying to do, and in a way, it was even worse than what the Abbey did to people who either used magic or were suspected of being connected to it in some way. While it was wrong of the Abbey to go around killing people, many of whom were only believed to be heretics, Delilah was forcing herself into people’s minds to try and change their beliefs. And as much as Corvo hated most people who were members of the various religious organizations across the different countries, he also believed they had the right to think what they wanted.

He could only wonder if Delilah had some grander goal with the void, beyond using it to manipulate the dreams of some supposed seers. Unfortunately, with the Outsider not saying anything, and Delilah clearly not giving away her own plans, he was no closer to figuring this out than he had been when he first entered the conservatory. So for now he would focus on taking down Delilah, which meant he would have to head to her office and grab the old lenses for “The Oraculum”. By putting the old lenses into the machine, not only would it ultimately cut Breanna off from the power she currently had, but he now knew for certain that it would weaken Delilah’s power base as well. Honestly, after everything he had ever done to the Abbey, and all the issues he had with the organization, he still couldn’t believe he was now helping them. But sometimes, that's just how life worked. At one point in time, someone could be your enemy, but the next moment you lend them a helping hand. However, no matter how he might feel about them in this moment, that wouldn’t change his overall opinion in regards to the Abbey. However, it did leave him with mixed feelings about the Abbey and their views on magic that he just didn’t have the time to deal with. Instead, he needed to focus on taking down Breanna, and continuing with his mission in saving Emily.


	5. The Sixth Stricture

**Chapter 5: The Sixth Stricture**

****

**Wanton Flesh**

“The Dust District,” Corvo muttered once Meagan had left him, “I haven’t been here in years.”

It was true. He had grown up in the Dust District but after his father died, he hadn’t spent as much time at home. He had instead spent most of his time learning to use a sword, and then he eventually left Serkonos not too long after he won the Blade Verbena. All things considered, though, it hadn’t been terrible while he was growing up. The gangs had certainly been around at that time, but the district as a whole had not been controlled by two different organizations. And currently it was controlled by the Howler Gang and the Overseers. Not that either group had control of the entire district, but they both certainly controlled a good portion of it. This, from what he could see, was causing a lot of problems for the citizens who lived there, because neither group seemed to care about who got in their way. And on top of that, he refused to believe that his only option was to give the district to either Paolo or Byrne. He had issues with both and would hate to see what either one would do to the citizens.

“For now, I’ll find the code for the Jindosh lock and just take the both of them down.”

With that in mind, Corvo decided to head towards the Crones Hand Saloon and deal with Paolo. The fact that he was also the leader of the Howler gang meant that would probably be his best option to get any information on the Jindosh lock so he could enter Aramis Stilton’s manor. Plus at this moment he had more issues with Paolo than Byrne. It really rubbed him the wrong way that Paolo was going around Karnaca and threatening the people who owned the Black Market shops. He understood that the Overseers would arrest the show owners and most likely have them killed for heresy, but that didn’t excuse what Paolo was doing either. The man was going around and forcing the shop owners to pay him protection money. From what he could gather, mostly from seeing this happen, Paolo seemed to have increased the amount of money they had to pay and the shop owners were having trouble putting together the money.

However, Paolo had also just backed these people into corners. They had to pay him or, it seemed, he would likely leak information to the Overseers that would cost them their lives. So they had to scrounge up the money to keep their businesses, and themselves, alive. That, along with how tightly both groups were guarding their borders, made it very difficult for people to move freely around the Dust District. On top of that, the current tension meant either group would had the mindset of “shoot first, and ask questions later” if they encountered anyone that was not associated with their respective organization.

 _'That includes myself as well,'_ Corvo thought as he snuck into the Crones Hand Saloon. It had taken a good deal of moving through the shadows to find an entrance to get inside, but once that was done, he decided his best option would be to take down Paolo and everyone else he saw. That way, he would be free to explore and look for clues without having to constantly look over his shoulder. So with that in mind, he decided to forgo using Sleep Darts, just to conserve them in case he needed them later. For most of the people he encountered here, just using a choke hold would be the easiest way to deal with them. That, combined with his Dark Vision, meant he was able to deal with everyone in a matter of minutes. From there, it was just waiting for Paolo to isolate himself from the people who were on the first floor. This was one enemy he wanted to use his Sleep Darts on, just in case the rumors were true. Everyone seemed to think that Paolo had to be killed twice before he would really stay dead. So if that were actually true, and Corvo had some trouble believing it, then he would probably have to knock the man out more than once for him to really stay down. Which is exactly what he had to do, though he hadn’t been expecting the hand that started crawling on his arm when he did.

“This belonged to Granny Rags!” Corvo exclaimed as he crushed the hand underneath his boot. 

Of all the things he had been expecting when Paolo had turned into a swarm of rats after he shot him the first time, it had not been that. Of course, he only knew the hand had once belonged to Granny Rags because he recognized it from the fight he had with her when trying to save Slackjaw. That then brought up the question as to how Paolo had gotten a hold of it, and how had it gotten more powerful. Then again, there was also the fact that Granny Rags may have had the same power herself at one point in time, or it could have had different properties depending on who owned it. Either way, Paolo’s fight against the Overseers had just gained a more personal bent. The man clearly had more reasons to be fighting them than just the fact that the people in the gang saw themselves as rebels. Paolo had been fighting to make sure he could keep using his magic without any trouble from the Overseers. Though it was obvious from the way Paolo had been acting that he had grown arrogant over the power given to him through the magical hand he owned.

Since he had to be “killed” twice in the same night, he had probably grown too confident because no one else had been able to accomplish that so far. That, coupled with the fact that Paolo had not been expecting anyone to invade the Crones Hand Saloon, meant that he had panicked just a bit. That was all he had needed to take Paolo down, and now he was certainly glad he had done it. If there was one thing he had learned over the years, it was the fact that one needed to have a healthy amount of respect and fear for the Outsider. Despite the fact that the Outsider bestowed some of his power upon humans, and for some odd reason seemed more partial to Corvo, did not mean he liked them in any way, shape, or form. So when one had access to his magic, they had to remember he was an otherworldly being who didn’t care for humanity at all. That was where the respect part came in. The fear factored into the fact that one never knew what consequences came from using the Outsider’s power. Corvo could attest to the fact that the Outsider’s magic was addicting, and if one weren’t careful, they could become lost in it. Just like Granny Rags did long ago. So while he had no love for the Overseers, he also tried to keep the Outsider and his power at arms length. Of course he had been failing miserably at that, but it was the thought that counted more than anything. Plus, if he just focused on that, he knew that when his current mission was over, he would be able to remove himself from the temptation of the Outsider’s power. Well, at least that was what he was telling himself. But for now, it was time to explore the saloon and see what clues he could find.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

Corvo’s hunt for clues in the saloon had lead to him finding Durante’s room, with a note on the front saying he’d been captured by the Overseers. So while he had made his way through the Dust District to the building where the Overseers had made their base, he had felt more annoyed than anything else. He had gone to the Crones Hand Saloon because he believed that Paolo would have the information he needed. Instead, he should have gone to the place with the Overseers first, because they had the information he needed. Of course, hindsight was something no one liked, because it always made a difficult problem seem easy or offered different solutions for all kinds of situations. It meant that he obviously could have had no idea this would happen, and at least he should be grateful that one leader had been taken care of. Of course, now that he was sitting in Byrne’s office, he wasn’t happy at all. Of everything he had had to do in the building, taking Byrne down had been the easiest part. In a way, traveling through the building had been exactly what he was expecting when dealing with the Abbey.

What he hadn’t been expecting was the fact that Durante had already been dead long before he arrived. Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing how long the man had been dead for, but at least this time it wasn’t due to the fact that he had been accused of heresy. Instead it was all because he had information the Overseers wanted but wouldn’t give to them. It seemed he wasn’t the only who wanted to get into Aramis Stilton’s manor, especially since it was rumored that he was still alive. And the only one he knew how to break the lock that Stilton was hiding behind was Durante, and he was long dead. This of course, was something that he hated about the Abbey. If anyone disagreed with them, or didn’t fit in with the view they had of the world, then they just disposed of them. Not that this really helped them out, because they could always end up with a situation where their unfortunate interrogation victim died before they got any information. This had put them into a situation where they would have needed to take down the Howler gang before they would have been able to do anything, and it wasn’t like they had been making any progress on that front at all. Instead, they were locked in a stalemate with the gang, and neither one had seemed to have gotten any advantage over the other. 

In the case of the Overseers, it was because Paolo could not be easily killed, and he supposed that not only would the Overseers have better weapons than the Howlers, but they would be able to more easily replace soldiers than the Howlers. So it had ended up becoming a bloody battle between them, and as always, the Abbey was somehow able to justify all of this. Corvo was almost certain that the government didn’t care at all about what the Abbey did, but he was more interested to hear about how they justified it to themselves. Because many times, the Abbey would end up murdering innocent people in their path to make the world what they believed it needed to be. So they somehow twisted the strictures around to justify their acts of murder. Though there was every possibility that they didn’t see it as being wrong if they were killing people they believed to be heretics. In many cases, Corvo honestly doubted that the Overseers had enough information to condemn the people that they did. But since they had the backing of the government, there was nothing that the people could do. Which is why he hadn’t wanted to help the Overseers either, because they wouldn’t have been much better than Paolo either. In fact, they probably would have been much worse, because their murder was supported by the Duke. It was moments like these when Corvo wondered just what people saw in the Abbey.

He knew from experience that many people found comfort in the strictures, or the Abbey itself, but that didn’t make sense at all. While the Abbey of the Everyman always seemed to be preaching about how they cared for the people, that did not seem to be the case at all. In fact, the Overseers of the Abbey seemed to care more about themselves and their beliefs than the lives of the people they were supposed to be helping. In that respect, the Overseers were very much like the Outsider, though they would kill him on the spot if he ever dared to utter those words aloud. But it was true. Both were unfeeling, powerful beings who looked down upon those whom they saw as being different. But while the Outsider looked down upon all of humanity, the Abbey only looked down upon people who were not a part of their organization. The other thing that set them apart was the fact that the Outsider, once he gave someone access to his power, allowed them to do whatever they wanted with it. Which was evident in how different the abilities were for different people, as well as the fact that the Outsider had been perfectly content with allowing Corvo to do what he wanted. The Abbey though, hated when people did something that did not align with the beliefs of the organization. Though they were certainly more lenient with their own members than they were the general public. So he could only imagine what the Abbey would do if they had actually been allowed to gain control of the area. That wouldn’t happen though, if he succeeded in getting rid of Byrne.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

“Let’s see how you two like your new home,” Corvo said as he dropped the body of Liam Byrne into the other coffin and shut it. After he left Byrne’s office, Corvo had made his way back to the Crones Hand Saloon and Durante’s office. While he was searching the man’s office for the clue regarding how to solve the Jindosh lock, he had come across a piece of information that would allow him to remove both Byrne and Paolo. Apparently, along with doing work for Paolo, Durante had also been helping a silver miner by delivering people to him. Those people would then get sent to work in the silver mines, and would stay there until the day they died. While this wasn’t necessarily the end he wanted for either of them, doing anything worse wouldn’t fit the crime either one had committed. On top of that, by sending them to the mines it meant that both groups would be without their respective leaders. That meant they would either disperse, and leave the district to the people like it should be. Or, it meant that someone else from within the organizations would try to assume power and continue to try and take over the Dust District. Corvo didn’t really see that happening, because it would probably take awhile for either group to notice that their leaders were gone. Even if they didn’t, it would most likely be difficult for either one to fill in the voids left behind by Byrne and Paolo. Instead, they would probably start fighting amongst themselves over who gets to be in charge, and so the district would be safe for a while. 

Plus, if he managed to take care of Duke Abele and Delilah soon, then there was the chance that someone better might be placed into the position of Duke. Depending on who it was, and Corvo could only hope it was someone who could actually do their job, they might actually do some good for the Dust District. Though the only way to solve the problem for good would be to fix the corruption within the Abbey and then to find out why so many people rallied around Paolo. Those, of course, were very complex issues that would not be easy to fix, if they could even be fixed. If the new government, and Corvo was going to make sure there would be a need for a new Duke, put in the effort they might be able to improve the living conditions for the people within Serkonos, and Karnaca specifically. However, he seriously doubted anyone would be able to fix the corruption within the Abbey of the Everyman. The organizations flaws were too deeply rooted within their beliefs, and they refused to even acknowledge the fact that they might be wrong. 

That could easily be seen in the way that Byrne reacted to the last vision given out by the Oracular Order. While Corvo wasn’t trying to say that it was a good vision in any way, it did show that the Abbey resisted anything that went against the beliefs they had held for hundreds of years. It was honestly not something he could really see changing anytime soon, regardless of what might happen in the future. Even if the Abbey were to get a new leader that held views that were different to previous leadership, any change that might occur would be very slow. The only way change would happen quickly was if something drastic were to happen. Though it would have to be a lot more dramatic than what happened with High Overseer Campbell, since no one had really heard the more intimate details about what he had done. And of course a miracle would have to occur for anyone within the Abbey to consider an attitude change after Byrne went missing. Ultimately though, Corvo couldn’t spend time thinking about what might happen with the Abbey, or even with the Dust District. While it did sound cruel, he had more important things to worry about than his old home town. That didn’t mean he couldn’t wish for a better future for the Dust District, but it did mean he had to leave this store and head on over to the door blocking his way to Stilton’s manor. From there, he had to not only see if he could find Stilton, but also try and find out what occurred in that manor all those years ago. He just knew that his biggest clue to taking down Delilah would be found in that manor. All he had to do to find it was to figure out what Stilton and the others had done three years previously.


	6. The Seventh Stricture

**Chapter 6: The Seventh Stricture**

****

**Errant Mind**

“This place is cursed; cracked. I can feel the void seeping in.”

It was the first thought Corvo had upon entering the grounds of Aramis Stilton’s manor. The place not only felt devoid of life, but there was an unnatural coldness to the air. It reminded him all to much of the void, and yet he knew for certain he had not stepped foot into that place at all. Then there was the fact that something felt like it was interfering with his own connection to the void. Despite the fact that he could feel his own powers simmering beneath the surface, he couldn’t access any of them. He felt cut off from them, but not in the same way he did when Delilah had stolen his mark. This felt different somehow but he couldn’t really describe how it was different. But he would rather focus on that then the run down manor in front of him. It only served to remind him that he still had a ways to go until he could save Emily. However, as he really took in the manor’s appearance, Corvo let out a bitter laugh that echoed through the garden he stood in. Looking at this manor, and not taking into account it fell apart over the course of three years, he could almost be convinced it had been years since Delilah turned Emily to stone and then stole her throne. With everything he had seen, the corruption and the raggedness that had befallen the people of Karnaca, he just felt tired. It didn’t feel like he had only been here for a couple of days, but he supposed that was because of the stress he now felt. Still, at least the horrible state of the manor meant Corvo was less likely to run into anyone as he tried to find Stilton.

Upon entering the manor, Corvo realized that because everything was falling apart it would make it difficult to reach Stilton. It didn’t take him long to find the man’s location, but reaching him would be another matter it seemed. However, as he heard the man talking through the bars that separated them, he couldn’t help but wonder if Stilton had gone mad in the three years he had been locked away in his manor. Either that or the strange presence of the void had done something to what had already been a fragile state of mind. Corvo, of course, had seen what had happened to people who had been under the influence of the Outsider’s power for too long. His mind immediately flashing back to Granny Rags when he thought this. However, Stilton most likely didn’t have any of the Outsider’s powers, and Corvo couldn’t honestly say what prolonged exposure to the void would do, since he had never spent a great deal of time there himself. But the simple fact that the void did seem to be seeping into Stilton’s home was troubling in and of itself. He assumed this most likely had something to do with Delilah’s immortality, but he couldn’t figure out how the two were connected. That meant he would need to talk to Stilton, and hopefully get some answers from him despite the madness that had started to pervade his mind. 

Of course, once he finally reached Stilton, Corvo wasn’t sure if he would be able to have a conversation with the man. His blabbering had only gotten worse the closer he got, but he couldn’t give up. However, his poor attempt at conversing with Stilton was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the Outsider. This surprised him, because the only time Corvo usually ran into the Outsider outside of the void was whenever he encountered him at shrines people had made for him. Looking around though, he noticed that Stilton seemed to be frozen in time, and of course the Outsider had appeared without all of his usual flare, though the air around him had still turned the grayish-black of the void. But that was the only difference he could see within the immediate area. Corvo also gave up on Stilton when he realized the Outsider would be speaking with him instead. For some reason, and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the atmosphere or something else, this conversation felt different from the ones they had had recently.

As always, the Outsider was quick to impart his wisdom concerning whatever situation Corvo was dealing with. This time though, he seemed less vague and more free with his words. Corvo felt a bit concerned about that, though he also appreciated the fact that the Outsider had confirmed his own suspicions. It seemed that something really had happened to Stilton all those years ago, and whatever had happened was the cause behind his madness and not the presence of the void. What the Outsider said next, though, was what really caught his attention. 

“The void is not exactly a place. It is older and stranger than you could ever know.” Corvo wasn’t really sure what that meant, but as he looked around Stilton’s manor, he could understand on some level what the Outsider was getting at. All this time he had thought about the void as this place he went to, and for the most part that was true. But he had never really thought about how the power he used, the power he got from the Outsider, seemed so closely connected to the void. Whenever he had used that power, or found another rune, ice seemed to run through his veins. It was very similar to what he felt whenever he entered the void, or whenever he seemed to summon the Outsider. 

However, he had no time to contemplate that as the Outsider presented him with a strange timepiece that would allow him to view the past. It was an odd device, and that was saying something when he thought about all of the other powers that he could access on a regular basis. As Corvo opened it, he could once again feel ice flow through his veins. It seemed that instead of using his usual powers, his connection to the void would fuel this device instead. Though Corvo almost dropped it when he opened the strange fan like part on top. The pieces seemed to connect together to form a lens. Anytime he looked through the lens, it showed not the dilapidated manor he was standing in, but one in its prime and most likely one full of people as well. As he slowly moved around the room, staring at what the manor once was, Corvo suddenly felt glad that the Outsider didn’t really meddle in human affairs. 

Despite the fact that the Outsider did occasionally speak to people, and even give some of them special powers, he didn’t directly interfere with anything. Considering the fact that everything the Outsider bestowed was probably a reflection of his own power, Corvo had to say he was glad the being kept his distance. If he had been more interested in human affairs, the Outsider could probably do some serious damage to human civilization. It was a scary thought, and Corvo was suddenly very relieved he had never encountered this device before. Considering the fact that the device allowed the user to view the past, who knew what they might try and do with it. And then he activated it. 

“By the void…,” Corvo murmured when he activated the device. Of all the things he was expecting it to do, sending him back to the past was not one of them. He had honestly thought he would have to wander around the manor, having brief glimpses of the past as he tried to make his way to wherever the meeting that revived Delilah had taken place. Though, as he looked around the beautiful room he now stood in, with Stilton nowhere in sight, Corvo realized he would have to travel back and forth from the past to the present. Though he quickly became frustrated when he realized he still could not use any of his powers. It meant that the manor was still being affected by the void seeping in. At the same time, he was disappointed in the dependency he had slowly been developing. He had had no problems moving around without these powers before he had ever met the Outsider, but now he was worried about traversing Stilton’s manor without them. Upon entering the past, Corvo’s first thought had been to use Dark Vision to see who might be close by. He could just as easily peep through key holes and listen for nearby voices instead. It now seemed that the manor would be presenting more challenges than he originally thought it might.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

As Corvo made his way to Stilton’s study where Duke Luca Abele and the other important guests were meeting, he couldn’t help but be reminded of the last time he broke into a fancy party. It had been at the Boyle estate but his goal at that point in time had been to figure out which of the Boyle sisters was the lover of Hiram Burrows, the Lord Regent. Of course, he’d been looking for that specific sister so he could take her down, and get rid of another of Burrow’s supporters. This time though, he was trying to spy on a meeting between Delilah’s biggest supporters. The meeting had already happened, of course, but the purpose of this trip was to find out out how they brought Delilah back. It would also, hopefully, give him some clue as to how he could take Delilah down forever, since she was supposedly immortal. 

With all of the similarities between the two situations, Corvo kept expecting to see Overseers walking around Stilton’s manor. While the Boyle’s had had some at their own party all those years ago, they’d been restricted to areas where the guests would actually be moving about. The grand guard had been placed in the off limits sections but still, the purpose of the Overseers had been to detect threats that had no business being there. But then again, considering what the Duke had been planning to do in Stilton’s manor, he supposed having the Overseers there would have had some unfortunate consequences. It was unfortunate that they didn’t know Corvo would be crashing their little get together, because the Overseers would have possibly been able to catch him. This was all speculation though, because he didn’t know what methods they had to tell if anyone had a connection to the void, and at the same time, he didn’t know if what was happening to the manor in the present was really affecting it in the past. But the biggest reason the Overseers weren’t there was the fact that the Duke didn’t want to risk being interrupted as they brought Delilah back.

For the most part, Corvo was glad he didn’t have to deal with them because it made moving around much easier. And for the most part, he did think carefully before doing something in the past when he realized it did have an effect on the present. Though all of that went out of the window when he saw Stilton standing in the garden by himself. What he did next was done partly on impulse and partly because he pitied the man he had met in the present. But Corvo decided to spare him from whatever fate had befallen him and knocked him unconscious. Of course he had to hide Stilton so the guards didn’t wake him up. That would have undone everything he had just foolishly done, though he couldn’t really regret his actions. It did have the unfortunate side effect of not having the manor be dilapidated and abandoned in the present. Instead, it looked just as nice as it did in the past, though plenty of areas inside the manor looked less gaudy in the new present than they did in the past.

The presence of people in the past and the present made it harder to enter Stilton’s study, but not impossible. Soon, he was standing inside the hallway to the study where all of the trouble seemed to be happening. It also seemed that the timelines were overlapping here because while Corvo could see and hear Delilah’s main conspirators in the past, he could see shades of them in the future. There seemed to be some hesitation from Kirin Jindosh, but he was completely thrown off balance when he saw Alexandra Hypatia standing in the circle they had formed. Then he saw the way she moved, with the animalistic qualities he had seen from her when she was under the influence of that strange poison and realized this was that strange other personality he had encountered. Then suddenly the group disappeared and he ran down the stairs leading to the basement.

There he found their shades standing in the middle of a strange looking circle that appeared to have been painted onto the floor. At the head of the circle was an odd statue that reminded him of Delilah. Corvo couldn’t really say what happened next except that he felt a surge of power and then a figured appeared in the center of the circle. It took a minute for her body to take shape, but he realized right away that it was Delilah. Before she seemed to settle completely, black energy came from her body before a bright light moved from her body to the statue. He didn’t have to wait long to find out what it was because Delilah herself confirmed that she had moved her spirit from her body into the statue. As he stared at the fragile effigy that held her spirit, he realized that his plan to take down Delilah had just gotten more difficult.

As much as he would love to see if destroying that effigy right now would get rid of Delilah, he couldn’t risk keeping her around forever. For all he knew, destroying her spirit wouldn’t actually kill her, and then he would never be able to help Emily. But that left him with another dilemma, just how did he remove her spirit from the statue and return it to her body. At least finding the effigy wouldn’t be difficult, as Delilah asked Duke Abele to hold onto it. That meant he could gather her spirit when he went after the Duke, and wouldn’t have to wait until he arrived at Dunwall Tower to find it. Though he was a bit surprised that Delilah had decided to leave such an important item with Abele. Corvo thought she would have wanted to guarantee its safety, but he wouldn’t question his good fortune.

“I know who you are.” Delilah’s voice echoed off the walls of the chamber and brought him back to the present. “I know when you are. You’ve come to watch me return. And someday, I’ll come for you.”

Corvo was halfway up the steps by the time Delilah was finished her speech. He didn’t know if she really knew who he was, or if she’d been making guesses based off of his connection with the void. Either way, he didn’t really want to stick around and find out. Out of everyone else in the room, Delilah had been the only one who seemed to be present in all the times like he was, and there was no way he could take on Delilah now. Without her spirit back in her body, she would have an unfair advantage over him. So he would have to wait and take her on another day.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

When Corvo reached the door with the Jindosh lock, he’d expected to just walk right through it and return to where Anton was waiting for him. What he hadn’t been expecting was for the floor to open up beneath him. He certainly hadn’t been expecting to fall into the void either. It had taken everything he had to not scream as he fell, even as his stomach dropped. And on top of that, Corvo was pretty sure all the equipment and heavy clothing he was wearing made his descent that much faster. Though that didn’t help him at all as he saw an island approaching and almost missed it. Thankfully, he stopped at the last second because someone or something had grabbed the wrist on his left arm.

When he looked up, he was only half surprised to see it was the Outsider who had caught him. The other half wasn’t that surprised, since the Outsider did live in the void, and he’d only seen Delilah here once anyway. The two of them ended up holding eye contact for a few moments before the Outsider lifted him and then dropped him onto the island. Corvo didn’t get the chance to look around though, because the Outsider started talking the moment he got back on his feet. Apparently this island was at the edge of the void and was the place where the Outsider died 4,000 years ago.

“This is where my life ended, and where it began again. This is where they made me.” It was the last thing the Outsider said before disappearing to another spot on the island but it had frozen him to the spot where he’d been standing. Out of all the things Corvo had been expecting from this visit, it hadn’t been to hear that the Outsider had once been alive. Did that mean he had been a human at one point? That seemed likely considering the human like statues that stood upon the island; creating a path to the altar at the other end. But if the Outsider had once been human, why had he been killed? Was he murdered inside the void? Or did the island become a part of the void upon the Outsider’s death? And what did he mean, this was where they made me? This whole mess had created way too many questions and Corvo had a feeling that none of the ones he’d just thought of would be answered at all. 

Knowing the Outsider, he would answer a question that Corvo hadn’t even known he had been thinking of. That was just the way he worked. Though on some level, this felt a lot more personal than any other encounter he had had with the Outsider. This belief was only reinforced when the Outsider told him of how he had been tied to the altar and only thought about escaping the moment it became too late. And while the story had certainly been fascinating, his interest had been peaked when he heard that Delilah had discovered this island after she had died. While Corvo had figured out a long time ago that people went to the void when they died, he hadn’t been sure if it was the same for witches. Apparently it was. And it was during her time in the void that Delilah had learned to tap into its power.

The fact that she was apparently now a part of the Outsider was also interesting. He couldn’t help but wonder if anyone who could use the power of the void was also a part of the Outsider. Or if that only applied to those who could tap into the power of the void without the Outsider’s help. If Corvo were being honest, he hoped it was the latter and not the former. It made his skin crawl when he thought about the fact that he could even be considered to be a part of the Outsider. Though it seemed the Outsider wasn’t too keen on that idea, at least where Delilah was concerned. When he had passed along that information, Corvo could hear the hesitation in his voice before he had even finished the sentence. And even though the Outsider hadn’t come right out and said it, he definitely didn’t want Delilah to keep having access to the power within the void.

So that meant he wasn’t just removing Delilah to save Emily, but to also help the Outsider. Corvo wondered if the god had wanted him to help from the very beginning, before realizing that was a stupid thought. The Outsider had told him, after he got the mark back, that Delilah had wanted more than just Dunwall’s throne. So the question was, what did she want? No matter how close he thought he got to the answer, it seemed to always elude him. What he did know was that Emily’s throne was just a stepping stone, and with the access she had to the void, and the power of a god, who knew what Delilah could do. The possibilities were endless, and Corvo was honestly afraid of what she might do with that kind of power. And, unlike the Outsider who kept his distance, Delilah had no problem with interfering in human affairs. But instead of dealing with it himself, the Outsider made sure he had a connection to someone who was invested enough to remove Delilah, no matter what it took. And as Corvo made his way out of the void, he vowed to do just that.


	7. The Sixth Stricture

**Chapter 7: The Sixth Stricture**

****

**Rampant Hunger**

When Corvo finally reached the Palace District, all he wanted to do was head straight to Duke Abele, take him down, and then steal Delilah’s spirit. His only problem though, was the fact that he still had no idea as to how he was supposed to carry it. Was he supposed to find some special enchanted item? Or was there some other, more obvious method that he just wasn’t thinking of? These questions plagued him as he traveled around the district, hoping that he might find some clue, or some black magic item that might help. No matter where he searched, Corvo couldn’t find a single item or clue that would help in carry Delilah’s spirit out of the Grand Palace. With all of his other options exhausted, he headed to the one place that, if he were being completely honest, he hadn’t really wanted to go. The Outsider’s Shrine. From the moment he’d learned about what Delilah had done to her soul, he’d had a feeling that the only way he would solve this problem would be to go through the Outsider.

And so Corvo had done his best to avoid the deity. He just had this feeling that whatever the solution was, he wasn’t going to like it at all. In many ways, this felt like an end, but an end to what, he couldn’t say. So it was with a heavy heart that Corvo dragged himself through the now, mostly, empty streets of the Palace District and back to the Black Market shop. He’d known all along that the shrine had been located there. The mechanical heart, which he kept in a special pouch inside his vest, had started beating wildly the moment he’d approached the area. That had been strange, in and of itself, because usually the heart was perfectly still unless he pulled it out. This time though, it had felt like the heart was being pulled to the shrine. Almost as if it knew what needed to be done and wanted to lead him to this mysterious end. And, just like the last time he approached the back of the Black Market shop, the heart beat wildly, and it wasn’t until Corvo slowly approached a series of wooden boards that the beating stopped.

That caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up, and he could feel a bead of sweat slowly making it’s way down his back. For the first time since Corvo had started visiting these shrines he felt something ominous in the air. Typically, the air surrounding the shrines had always felt colder, like a bit of the void was seeping into reality. It had always felt both foreign and yet completely familiar, and he’d never once felt out of place in the area surrounding a shrine. This time though, that comforting feeling was gone, snatched away and replaced with something that made his stomach churn. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Corvo flipped open his blade, destroyed the wood, and slowly stepped into the cave, the metal of his boots clanging loudly in the silence. Maybe it was because he felt so uneasy, but everything seemed off. And it wasn’t just his footsteps either. His breathing was ragged, and his own heart, (or was it the mechanical heart he carried?), beat loudly in his chest, and his palms were sweating.

Stopping in the middle of the cave, Corvo took another deep, fortifying breath, put his sword away, and then approached the shrine. Staring at the runes lying innocently on the purple cloth, he hesitated for just a moment before reaching down and picking them up. Once again, the familiar rush of the void surrounded him and filled the cave. This time though, the presence of the void felt oppressive and heavy. For a brief moment, he thought he might actually be crushed against the stone island he stood upon, and it took everything he had to stay upright. Finally though, the Outsider appeared and the weight he’d been feeling disappeared. Unlike the Outsider’s openness from last time, he started off their conversation in his usual manner, indirect manner. The Outsider, instead of moving about like he usually did, was instead crouched upon the stone ledge in front of him. And, as was somewhat typical of the Outsider, every word that came from his mouth made Corvo question everything he had done up to that moment. It was something he always did, but the Outsider’s question on whether or not he would feel comfortable back in Dunwall threw him off. 

That question had been in the back of his mind for most of this journey, and was one that was not easily answered. Being back in Karnaca had been a constant reminder of his childhood, and one that Corvo didn’t always appreciate. Then there was the fact that the country had been in turmoil and he hadn’t even noticed, or hadn’t cared enough to even pay attention. There was at least some truth to the Outsider’s words, because Corvo had cut all ties with Karnaca when he became Lord Protector to Jessamine Kaldwin. He hadn’t wanted to think about the place where he grew up, and as he tried to help Emily shoulder her responsibilities, he had continued to ignore the country. But this journey had forced him to confront those issues, and with everything he had seen, he would have still been able to return to Dunwall. It might have taken some time, but he would have been able to, not exactly return to how things were before, but create something that he could live with comfortably. Not this time though. This trip had been more than Corvo trying to rescue Emily and coming face to face with his childhood. He’d also been forced to come face to face with the one issue he had wanted to ignore, his connection to the Outsider and the void. Facing that had always made him feel conflicted, and it always felt like he never had enough time to deal with it. This situation was the same, because Corvo, who had only half been paying attention to the Outsider’s words, was pulled back to reality with his parting statement.

“Anyway I know what you’re after. The heart you carry can only hold one spirit at a time. So, if you want to walk out with a piece of Delilah, you better be ready to leave something behind.”

With that, the Outsider and the void disappeared, leaving Corvo to the silence of the cave he’d been standing in. He stood still for a few moments, just trying to process what had happened, before pulling out the mechanical heart he’d received so long ago. For the first time since entering the Palace District, it was almost completely still. When he wasn’t near other people, runes, or bone charms, the heart beat slowly, one beat for four of his own. But despite that, it emitted a slight warmth, and he could have almost thought it was a real heart, if it weren’t for the metal that encased it. Looking at it now though, Corvo didn’t want to believe it actually held Jessamine’s spirit; no, he couldn’t believe it. Shaking his head, Corvo shoved the heart back into it’s pouch and decided to deal with that later; when he could no longer avoid thinking about it. Instead, he needed to worry about getting into the Grand Palace. Once he’d made it to the effigy that held Delilah’s spirit, then, and only then, would he think about this.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

It hadn’t taken Corvo long to navigate the Duke’s new palace, and taking down Duke Abele had been easier than he thought it would be. He’d been weary about the man’s body-double when it had first been mentioned, and he’d still been skeptical when they finally came face to face. However, despite whatever faults the actual Duke Abele had, his body-double at least seemed to want to make an honest effort to reform Karnaca. Once that was taken care of, it didn’t take much effort to reach the secret vault beneath the kitchen. It had taken even less time for him to dispose of the clockwork soldier guarding Delilah’s spirit.When Corvo finally came face to face with the effigy, he hesitated. It seemed the moment of truth had finally come, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do. To remove Delilah’s spirit from the effigy, he would have to leave something behind; he would have to say his final goodbyes to Jessamine. Even though he hadn’t actually used the heart in 15 years; hadn’t even seen it since the end of his last journey, he had drawn some comfort from the fact that he had been able to have Jessamine close by. It had been even better while he was traveling around Karnaca to try and save Emily. But he had always held onto the belief that it hadn’t really been her, because Jessamine was dead. He had seen her die right before his eyes, which was all the proof he needed. So Corvo had willfully ignored the fact that it might actually be Jessamine’s spirit inside the heart. Instead, he had thought it was just another use of the Outsider’s magic. In his mind, the Outsider had just used his power to manipulate the heart to make the voice and image appear to be Jessamine. 

But if he acknowledged the fact that the spirit within the heart was really Jessamine, he would also have to come to terms with how selfish he was. He’d wanted to spend time with her so badly that he had been willing to not let her spirit rest in peace. And he knew that was wrong, but he hadn’t been able to say goodbye. Now, though, he was being forced to say his final goodbyes to his love once again, and all because of Delilah. Thus the reason behind his conflict. Because saying goodbye meant laying Jessamine’s spirit to rest, but it also meant he would have to carry Delilah’s spirit around. Honestly, Corvo would rather not have to, but he really had no choice at all. So, with a deep breath Corvo pulled out the heart and summoned Jessamine. With one last brief conversation, Jessamine disappeared and the light disappeared from heart he held.

Steeling himself for what he was about to do, Corvo placed the heart close to the effigy holding Delilah’s spirit. With a bright flash of light, the spirit moved from the effigy in the center of the room to his mechanical heart. When the light was gone he looked down to see it was no longer the pink-red color it had been before. Instead, it was almost a pure black, with just the barest hint of red. Corvo wasn’t sure if that was meant to say something about Delilah as a person, or due to the magic she could use, but frankly he didn’t care either way. He was just glad that he had gotten ahold of her spirit and could leave the Grand Palace. This meant he was one step closer to taking her down and rescuing Emily. Now all he had to do was leave this place without getting caught.

 _‘Should be simple enough,'_ Corvo thought as he ran up the steps. It’s not like he’d had to go far from the front entrance to actually get to the kitchen, and most of the guards were already unconscious. With that thought, he made his way out of Duke Luca Abele’s Grand Palace.

~~000~~000~~000~~000~~

As Corvo walked down the bloody streets of Dunwall, he couldn’t help but reflect on how much had changed. He had probably only been gone about a month, but already everything was so different. While the city hadn’t been perfect before, many of the buildings were now falling apart, and bodies littered the streets. Instead of the grand guard patrolling, he saw wolfhounds and some of Delilah’s witches. He had trouble believing Delilah and her people had been able to do this much damage in such a short amount of time. What made it worse was the fact that she just didn’t seem to care about what happened to the people in the city at all. None of the bodies had been buried, and instead were left to rot in the streets. Many homes were either abandoned, or in such a state of disrepair that Stilton’s dilapidated manor was starting to seem that much nicer. To top it all off, he’d heard from some of the random citizens hiding in the buildings that there was already a food shortage.

“Though that doesn’t begin to compare to the fighting,” Corvo murmured as he made his way up the next road. This was the one area he had been dreading heading towards, because he’d heard from plenty of people that the Overseers and Delilah’s witches had had a huge fight down this street. As he surveyed the scene, taking in all of the dead bodies, Corvo couldn’t help but feel pity stirring in his heart for the dead Overseers lying around. While it was true he had never liked the Abbey, or the Overseers at all, he had never wanted to see any of them die like this. He wouldn’t say they should have been spared because they were innocent, because that would be a terrible lie for most of them, but each of them had people who cared for them. And he couldn’t imagine the pain their families must be going through because of this. If there was one thing his trip to Karnaca had taught him, it was that everyone deserves to live their lives how they want, so long as they are not harming other people needlessly.

While many of the Overseers harmed innocent people with their actions, the beliefs they fought to protect had helped comfort many people as well. It was a delicate situation, but at the end of the day they didn’t deserve to be slaughtered like this. But the moment they found out that Delilah had witches working for her, not a single Overseer would have been able to refrain from fighting. In their eyes, Delilah and her witches represented everything they saw wrong in the world and would need to be eliminated. Each and everyone one of them would have been labeled a heretic before being killed if the overseers had had their way. Which, considering the number of dead bodies that lined the streets, it had been Delilah and her witches who had come out on top. Judging by who Delilah had backing her, and the fact that he had seen some clockwork soldiers at the Grand Palace, he could imagine Jindosh would have made sure Delilah had enough to supplement her army. And while the music boxes owned by the Overseers would have probably worked against Delilah’s witches, they wouldn’t have stood a chance against the clockwork soldiers.

Just as that thought passed through his mind, Corvo heard a wet, hacking cough from down on the ground. When he looked, he could just barely see the chest of one of the Overseers moving. That meant the man was still alive! Propping him up, Corvo asked him to explain what had happened on the street. The man told him what he had already guessed, that Delilah and her witches had some of the clockwork soldiers as back up. That meant the Overseer’s music boxes would have been useless, and without any other, more powerful weapons, they would have easily been backed into a corner. Hearing that, he couldn’t help but feel anger course through his body. This hadn’t even been a fair fight, because there was no way the Overseers would have been able to effectively fight against both the witches and the clockwork soldiers. With that anger still coursing through his veins, Corvo promised the dying man he would take down Delilah. 

“At death’s door I smell the corruption of the void upon you,” the man said in a surprisingly strong voice. “A heretic against a heretic, laughable. The world is doomed.” With that sentence, the man dropped his head and his chest moved no more.

 _‘It’s kind of funny in a way,’_ Corvo thought as he stood up and continued on, _‘I hadn’t expected any other response, and while that should have angered me, it reassured me instead.’_

Honestly, with how things were going, he might have died from a heart attack right then if the Overseer had expressed any joy at his proclamation to end Delilah’s reign. And while he was confused as to how the man had smelt the “corruption of the void” upon him, it at least let him know that the Overseers wouldn’t have had any faith in him even if all of them had still been alive. In fact, Corvo was pretty sure that, had that the High Overseer been present, he would have tried to arrest him on the spot. It wouldn’t have mattered to them that he was their best chance at beating Delilah. All the Overseers would have seen was a man who had turned away from the Abbey and been corrupted by the Outsider. At the same time, he couldn’t help but pity the man he had just spoken with. While it was admirable that he was clinging to his beliefs up to the point in which he died, he had to know that sometimes, one had to fight fire with fire. At this point in time, the only way to beat Delilah was to beat her at her own game. To do that, one had to have access to powers that were similar enough to what she could use that they wouldn’t be easily defeated.

Not that that meant Corvo planned on taking on her army head on. That would be suicidal and the only thing he would accomplish would be his death, just like the Overseers. Instead, what he had to do was lurk in the shadows, and wait for the opportune moment to strike. If that meant using the power he gained from the Outsider to do it, then that was what needed to be done. The Overseers would never understand this as a whole, despite the fact that many of the individuals were as corrupt as they believed him to be. Of course, he wasn’t saying that the group as a whole needed to become corrupt. It was just that they needed to accept the fact that sometimes, beings that used magic could only be effectively taken down with the same kind of magic. Usually that meant trying to use their own magic against them, because that tended to be the last thing they would expect. 

It was a hard lesson to learn, and not one that had come easily to Corvo either. At the beginning, he had still tried to fight against this growing dependence on the Outsider’s power. While it was certainly convenient, he had still wanted to believe that when the time came, he would be able to stand on his own two feet. And while he had for the most part, he had unconsciously tried to use that power several times in Stilton’s manor when he knew he couldn’t. At this point, it would be foolish for him to ignore the influence the Outsider had had on his life, especially in comparison to the Abbey of the Everyman. While the Abbey was supposed to be the morally superior group, Corvo could easily admit to the fact that he would more readily believe the Outsider than any of the Overseers. Even though the deity tended to speak ambiguously most of the time, at least he wouldn’t torture you for not behaving in a specific way. In fact, the Outsider was all about allowing people to make their own choices, regardless of the situation, while the Abbey liked to restrict what people were allowed to do. At the end of the day, Corvo would rather build a shrine to the Outsider than follow in the shadow of the Abbey. Even though the former would leave him shrouded in darkness, at least it was a darkness of his own choosing. As he was now, the Abbey would be more likely to kill him, regardless of what he was about to do.

“I suppose that means they’ll just have to never find out about my secret,” Corvo said with a wry grin as he continued to Dunwall Tower. At the end, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to leave the Outsider behind, no matter how much he tried to lie to himself. No matter how much he tried to cling to his old life, one free of magic, the moment he first used the magic of the void 15 years ago he had been trapped. Even at the beginning of this journey, when he’d tried to distance himself from the Outsider, he had known everything he thought had been a lie. If he had truly wanted to stay true to himself, and to not become corrupted by the Outsider’s influence, he would have rejected his mark when given the chance. But he didn’t, and now he would have to live with those consequences. It was time to stop running and embrace his connection with the Outsider, because it was the only way he would be able to dispel the shadow Delilah had cast upon Dunwall. Once that was done, then he could worry about the Abbey, and how he would deal with them. But for now, he needed to focus on getting rid of Delilah and rescuing Emily. 

_‘Here I come Emily, I’ll be there soon. I promise.’ ****_

_**The End** _

__


End file.
